Moments
by tiashew14
Summary: Life consists of separate moments no matter how you look at it. But when you're living apart, each and every moment becomes an important chapter of one's life. As the shinobi world was struck by a new unexpected crisis it will let those feelings grow. This is just one of the many stories about Shikamaru and Temari came to be to be together and the moments they've shared.
1. Chapter 1: Desert Flower

**Title:** Moments

 **Author:** _tiashew14_

 **Genre:** romance mostly, might be some action and humor present

 **Pairing:** ShikaTema

 **Raiting:** PG-15.

 **Fandom:** Naruto

 **DC:** the original story belongs to the author. I'm only responsible for my own imagination.

 **Author's note:** First of all, the story takes place after Shikamaru Hiden. I'm actually referring also to Gaara Hiden as well. Speaking of light novels, I've loved them more than the anime version. That's why I use them as references at some point later on.

Secondly, I'm not native English speaker, so I believe there would be some mistakes I'm unable to see by myself. Sorry about that.

Finally, M rated content will not appear until some later chapters. First chapters are pretty innocent, haha.

Enjoy!

* * *

Moments

Chapter 1: Desert Flower

It was already two whole years since the Fourth Shinobi World War. Two whole years and another couple of months. And for the first time since then, everything was peaceful. Nothing big came by Kage's offices ever since the Country of Silence.

It was peaceful.

And boring.

Shikamaru was sitting in his office, staring at the sky.

Even though the huge pile of documents were waiting for him, he couldn't help but slacking off. The whole shinobi world was so goddamn peaceful that for the first time since chuunin exam he felt that he was getting closer to fulfilling that dream of his average and boring life. He should have been happy about that.

And yet, it was kind of disappointing.

He was looking at the sky. The setting sun painted it into bright orange. It was beautiful, and yet lacked something. Just like Shikamaru's life now.

There were no clouds in the sky.

And there was no wind.

Shikamaru smiled.

Thinking about the wind made him remember one certain face.

Come to think of it, he hasn't seen her in a while. Not since their first date and then Naruto's wedding.

Yeah, the best way to give up your average life dream was to invite the most troublesome woman he ever knew in.

And yet, He felt that it would be nice to see her again.

Looking at the orange sky and thinking of her made him remember something that happened long time ago…

* * *

 _…The sky was slowly turning bright orange as the sun was setting down. Last of few people already left long time ago, after all, nobody wanted to spend the night on the cemetery. And yet, one person was still there, looking and a gravestone in silence._

 _"Shikaku Nara"._

 _His father._

 _It was couple of days since the Forth Ninja War was over. Although the exact number of casualties was still unknown, the losses to shinobi world were devastating. His father was just one of the many._

 _The war can't be won without sacrifices._

 _The young man in front of the grave knew that very well, yet was still unable to put his thoughts together. He grew up watching his father's back, following his footsteps. And now that he's gone Shikamaru felt so goddamn empty inside._

 _"Are you crying?"_

 _He didn't hear the footsteps. Well, that wasn't surprising. She was a well-trained shinobi after all._

 _"I'm not."_

 _She came closer and stood beside him. Straight posture, sharp look in her eyes, golden hair tied on the back of her head, simple yet tattered clothes she wore on the battlefield, not a hint of a smile on her lips as if she still was in the middle of fighting. She was the exact opposite of the term feminine, and the last thing he needed was another lecture._

 _What a drag._

 _Temari sighed._

 _"Maybe you should." Was her answer._

 _Well, that was unexpected. For a moment Shikamaru thought he heard wrong._

 _"What about emotional training?"_

 _"It usually doesn't work when the family is involved," she gave a faint smile. Now when he looked closer, Temari didn't seem as strict and sharp as always. 'Tired' was a better word to use. That's right, she probably hardly got any time to sleep, since both of her brothers were injured and needed rest. Thinking something like her needing rest wasn't in her character. Putting everyone else before her own interest was just the way Temari was._

 _"I mean, even I would probably cry my eyes out, if something were to happen to my brothers."_

 _Shikamaru tried to imagine her crying, but it was no use._

 _"Did you cry when your father died?" He scratched the back of his head._

 _"No."_

 _Well, just as expected._

 _"Don't get me wrong, but my father was different from yours." She continued with tiny hint of sadness in her voice. "Maybe, he did care about us deep down in his heart, but he was sure not to show it. Not a single word of praise or sign of affection, that's just who he was. Hours of harsh trainings and unsatisfied look on his face that was the reality of my childhood."_

 _Shikamaru didn't know how to reply. It was amazing enough that she started talking about her childhood. It was probably the first time when Temari shared something this personal. No, actually something personal in general._

 _"What about your mother?"_

 _She laughed._

 _"I was only three when she died. Of course I cried."_

 _Shikamaru tried to imagine Temari as a kid but yet again failed miserably._

 _"Hard to believe it."_

 _"I bet."_

 _They stood in silence for a while. Only the wind far away from here played with Hidden Leaf's trees._

 _"I only got to meet your father couple of times, but still... he was an amazing person," she said in a small voice. "I kind of admired him."_

 _"Me too." Deep down inside Shikamaru probably wanted to cry. It would be easier that way for sure. And yet..._

 _"I wonder, what it would feel like to be brought up by him."_

 _It wasn't easy one to answer. Not unless you're capable of putting simple truth into simple words. Just like Temari._

 _"Well, he wouldn't want me to cry for sure." Answer was simple enough._

 _"Then, what would he want you to do?"_

 _Another simple question that is impossible to answer straight away. Shikamaru felt that his brain left its comatose state and started working again._

 _"To think about future."_

 _"And what do you see in the future?"_

 _"Well, I'm pretty sure everyone here has only one word in mind for that."_

 _"Peace, huh?"_

 _"Yeah."_

 _"How are you going to achieve it?"_

 _Shikamaru was startled for a bit. It suddenly became clear to him, what she was trying to do. It wasn't a compassion, that normal people were expected to show at the times like this. But Temari wasn't normal, after all. She was gently pushing him to do what he did best. To think._

 _"Why me? Kakashi will be the next Hokage, and then Naruto after him."_

 _"Naruto, huh? He is a symbol of peace. He actually managed to unite all of shinobi world, but that won't be enough. It'll take a brain like yours to make this whole peace thing work."_

 _He looked at her, just to meet Temari's glance. Straight and serious as usual. Her light green eyes were staring right into his soul. And somehow it didn't make him feel uncomfortable. Who would believe that of all people in the world Temari of the Desert, who is known to be just as scary as she's beautiful, believed in him. But what was even more surprising is that Shikamaru for the first time didn't feel pressured, but on the contrary he was kind of happy._

 _"Honestly, not a single clue."_

 _She chuckled._

 _"Thought you would say that."_

 _He just smiled back._

 _"Let me help you."_

 _Of all things that she said this evening, this one was the most unexpected._

 _"Huh?"_

 _"Who knows, what future has in store for us, and how the things will develop from this point on. But I want to be a part of it, that's for sure. And somehow on the battlefield I got the feeling that you're the one who can do it. That's why I want to help."_

 _As serious as ever. It would probably take a lot of guts for a normal girl to say something like that. And definitely not in such casual voice. But, as it was said before, Temari wasn't normal. Yet, hearing encouraging words from her was rather new. It made Shikamaru wonder if it was all for her speech._

 _She continued._

 _"I mean, such lazy ass crybaby will definitely need my help."_

 _There you go. Everything is back to normal. Usual Temari is back._

 _He just smiled hearing those words._

 _"Then, I'll rely on you from now on."_

 _It was amazing how just couple of minutes ago he was all depressed, but now all the hard feelings were gone. It would be stupid of him to deny the effect this woman has on him. Come to think of it, it all started back then during chuunin exam. If it wasn't for her and Naruto, he'd probably still be a gennin, without any perspectives or hopes for future. Even without knowing it herself, she was always pushing him forwards for a long time now._

 _Or... she actually knew it all along?_

 _Well, it doesn't really matter._

 _The truth is, he wouldn't make it on his own._

 _"So, when I feel useless and depressed..."_

 _"I'll scold you."_

 _"And when I'll lose my way or lose any hope..."_

 _"I'll encourage you."_

 _"And when I'm being lazy and complaining that everything is such a drag?"_

 _She turned towards him. And for a single moment she was brighter than orange sky or even sun itself._

 _"I'll kick your ass!"_

 _As Temari grinned happily it was the first time when Shikamaru for some unknown reason instead of "troublesome" thought "beautiful"…_

* * *

A lot of things happened since that time. And he himself had changed. But somehow these feelings grew stronger since then to the point when he actually couldn't imagine himself without her anymore. No matter how much of a genius everyone said he was, Shikamaru couldn't fully understand his own feelings.

He was sure of one thing though. That her smile was like a sole bright light in this dull world.

And that he, sort of, missed it.

"Is that so?" Hokage asked after hearing to her report. His voice sounded tired.

"Yes."

"Well, that's bad news for us. We're grateful for your information. This issue will be discussed during the next Kage meeting. Although, if what you say is true, it would be hard to schedule it. We'll send messengers to all villages, as soon as possible. Let Gaara know that we are to meet in three weeks' time in Hidden Cloud village."

"Roger that." Temari nodded.

"It's past midnight already. Are you planning to stay?"

"I'll be leaving at dawn. Storm season is starting in the Land of Wind. If I stay any longer it is possible that the message would be delayed too late for Kazekage to participate in the meeting."

"I understand." Hokage nodded. "Go have rest now."

"Yes."

Past midnight was a very humble way of saying it. It was already half past three in the morning, just couple of hours before dawn. Looking for an inn would be just the waste of time. Although she planned to arrive to Hidden Leaf much earlier, the weather in the desert was just as rough as people of the Sand village. Sandstorm lasted for 12 hours. And so she was half a day late. If it wasn't for that storm, she might have had to spend some time with that guy. Although she'd still end up helping him with paperwork. You could just look at Hokage's table to know that they're overwhelmed at the moment.

Well, if that's the case, then maybe she still got a chance. And, no matter how small it was, still worth taking.

She smiled to herself and headed to his office.

Temari knocked.

"Shikamaru, you there?"

There was no answer. Well, that's something you would expect half past three o'clock in the morning. And yet, it took just a little pressure from her knocking to make the door move.

It was open.

Temari pushed the door. It was dark inside. Night wind slightly touched the papers all over large table, probably making even bigger mess than was before. Among all this chaos was the man she was looking for.

"You should reply if you there..." she stopped in the middle of sentence. It was no use talking to him right now. After all, Shikamaru was sleeping.

The scene wasn't unusual, but it still made Temari hold her breath. Which was stupid, since he didn't wake up to her voice. He looked very peaceful in his sleep, just like Gaara usually does, when he collapses in the middle of paperwork. Thinking about her little brother made Temari feel like taking care of Shikamaru too, even though that was something she would usually feel only for her family.

Temari took a deep breath. The feeling did not disappear. It actually grew stronger.

She couldn't help it, after all.

'What the hell am I doing?' She thought pulling her scarf off.

It was plain looking piece of cloth, quite common for people to wear in Hidden Sand, especially when it's storm season and the dust in the air makes it impossible to breath. Although looking plain, the scarf was made out of high quality wool, it was very light and very warm. Temari knew that it would be impossible to find a blanket here, so for now the scarf will do.

Before she realized what exactly she's doing, Temari ended up sorting out the papers on the table.

'I guess it can't be helped.' She thought to herself. 'It's all your fault for looking this cute in front of me.'

She already made peace with the idea that she cared for this lazy guy. And that was another thing she couldn't help but feel. Just looking at him made Temari think: "He needs me!" The words she would never be able to ignore. It was a complicated feeling, but, well, which feeling is not? It was hard to be a girl in shinobi world. But, truth to be told, just being a girl was already hard enough.

She didn't make a sound, but somehow deep inside she still hoped, that he'd wake up. On the other hand, he probably didn't sleep for days working that load out. So it was better to let him sleep. She hated how frustrated she was at the moment, but yet again the warm gentle feeling in her heart made her extremely happy. See? Being a girl is hard!

She put the last document in the relevant pile and looked outside the window. The sky was getting brighter.

"All right, you've got about half an hour to wake up." Temari whispered.

The night was slowly losing all of its colors. Temari didn't need to look at the sky to know that. Instead she was staring at the guy in front of her, once again wondering what exactly is it about him that makes her feel this way. She couldn't come up with an answer.

When the first ray of light showed up on the horizon, Temari left.

Shikamaru was still sleeping.

* * *

Shikamaru was dreaming about flowers. Which was strange enough that he even saw a dream. The flowers he saw reminded him of his friend and teammate Ino, whose family held a flower shop. And yet he never saw flowers like that at their place. White sharp petals on a slim yet strong stem, it's leaves were just as straight as an iron blade. It wasn't pampered, it wasn't brought up by caring hands of a gardener in the field of green grass. This flower was growing against all odds in the earth that is unsuitable for living. With only the sand around it, the flower was still growing beautifully up to the sky. And it was one of the prettiest things Shikamaru've ever witnessed. But it wasn't the flower, that made him think this way, but it's smell. The desert dust mixed together with the sweet fragrance covered Shikamaru like a warm blanket. And this scent reminded him of certain someone. They've worked together long enough, but only few times, when she'll be really close to him, Shikamaru could caught a trace of this smell. She never wears perfume, she's not the type after all. It was her natural scent that made his mind go crazy with all sorts of thoughts he would never expect himself to think. Although it was nice to dream about her, Shikamaru suddenly felt a glimpse of regret, as if he missed something important.

When he woke up, the regret was even stronger. And Temari's scent didn't disappear. It was hardly an hour since dawn, and yet he couldn't tell the exact moment he fell asleep. One thing he knew right away is that at some point of time he wasn't here alone. As he rose up from his table something fell down from his shoulders. A plain piece of wool as light as a feather and just as soft. It was the very same scarf Temari usually wears during the stormy days in the desert.

Shikamaru looked around. The papers he'd finished working on weren't in the total mess anymore as he remembered them to be. Sorted out and neatly placed in a way the guy like Shikamaru would find too troublesome to even bother. And yet this sight was too familiar.

He felt sudden sting of pain in his heart when he realized that regret was real. And so was the dream.

He rose to his feet. Maybe, there's still time.

Shikamaru grabbed Temari's scarf and some urgent documents and ran to Hokage's office.

Kakashi was still there.

"Shikamaru? What's wrong?"

"Just finished working on those. You've asked it as soon as possible."

"Not at five in the morning..."

Shikamaru just shrugged.

"Can I ask something?"

"Yes?"

"Someone from the Hidden Sand came tonight?"

Judging from Kakashi's face, Hokage probably wanted to ask how Shikamaru even knew about that. But yet, it was hard to tell when you can only see his eyes. He might be thinking about something completely irrelevant now.

"Yes. Temari of the Desert brought an urgent notice. Apparently there is an information leakage in the Hidden Sand. They've noticed that the all the scrolls they receive have been unsealed and then sealed back. The same thing is happening with the radio connection. There's going to be an emergency Kage meeting in three weeks. And for that I'm going to need three more people to deliver the message."

"Only three?"

"Well, Temari herself will bring the news to her village. According to her it's too dangerous for messengers to walk around desert right now, due to the storms. That's why she left as soon as we made a conclusion on that."

"She left at night?"

Shikamaru could swear that Kakashi's eyes were laughing, when Hokage realized the real reason why Shikamaru came in so early in the morning.

"She said, she'd leave at dawn."

It wasn't too late!

"Kakashi-san. I'll be leaving for a short while, is that ok?"

"You would leave even if I said no. Fine, go."

"Thank you." As he ran out, he could swear that Kakashi murmured something like: "Youth~"

Shikamaru ran to the gates. Two shinobi on guard duty were yawning. It was almost the time to change shifts.

"Hey," Shikamaru asked breathing heavily. "Did you two see Temari of the Desert passing through the gate?"

"She left about half an hour ago. What about that?"

"Thank you. I'll be right back."

And he ran out. Hopefully, they won't report him as a missing-nin after being absent for an hour.

* * *

But he had to make it no matter what. He wasn't even sure, what he was going to say, but still kept running as if his life depended on that.

"TEMARI, WAIT!" He shouted as soon as he saw her back. It was useless to hide his presence and, truth to be told, he didn't care about any of that. She looked beyond surprised when she turned around.

"What are you doing here?" She asked when he came close enough.

Shikamaru tried to catch his breath.

"Next time... wake me.. up!"

Her face went from surprised to serious again.

"You'll probably work yourself to grave, if I were to wake you up every time."

She was right. And yet, he just didn't want to miss another moment with her like that. Those moments are rare to begin with, and if he slept through another one...

Shikamaru knew one thing. He didn't want that to happen, no matter what.

"I don't care," he said.

"Well, I do." She crossed arms on her chest. A gesture that her little brother would often do.

"Next time..." he took a deep breath. It was that stern look in her eyes that made him hesitate a moment. "Next time let's eat out together again."

The very same look that sometimes gave him shivers disappeared. Her facial features softened, as she chuckled.

"You didn't have to run all the way here to ask me out." She chuckled again. "Fine."

The stinging feeling of regret disappeared from Shikamaru's chest.

"Here," he gave back her scarf. "I'm returning this."

"Thanks." She wrapped the scarf around her neck in few precise movements. "I'll be going then."

"Yeah."

"See you around," she waved at him.

It was about after ten steps, that Shikamaru called out.

"Temari."

"What?" She turned around.

"Be careful. On the road." He scratched the back of his head. A desperate gesture to hide his embarrassment.

She was startled for a moment. And then gave him her usual grin.

"Ok."

When she left, his heart was still beating like crazy. To think that it was the same person, who can make him shiver in fear and shine with happiness...

Girls are scary.

But sometimes it was just worth it.


	2. Chapter 2: Rumor

Moments

Chapter 2: Rumor

Three weeks seemed almost too long to wait, and yet time flew by like crazy. Probably because Shikamaru was busy. In these three weeks, he'd seen off and welcomed back all the messengers he sent out. Sai visited the Hidden Mist, Sakura was sent to the Hidden Stone, mostly because the old Tsuchikage requested the best medical-nin to treat his back. And at least Chouji returned from the Hidden Cloud. He was the one to change the most because of this trip. When they met up at the gates, Chouji couldn't stop talking about the girl he met there. It was kind of strange to listen to his old friend talking about anything but food. Chouji even asked to be in Hokage's escort together with Shikamaru for the Five Kage meeting. Kakashi allowed it, murmuring something about the "youth" again.

When the time has come for the three of them to leave, it was hard to tell, who waited for the trip more.

They've arrived hardly on the appointed time, despite all the anticipation.

"Please, excuse us." Kakashi said to Raikage, who went out to meet them at the gates. "Other Kage already arrived?"

"You're not the last one to come." Raikage said smirking in his beard. "We've got the message that the Land of Wind is currently under a heavy storm and that cocky brat Kazekage is going to be late."

Shikamaru didn't let himself to show his disappointment.

"We would be pleased to show you the village for the time being." It was Raikage's secretary who started speaking now. "We'll inform you once Lord Kazekage arrives."

The guide appointed to the Hokage's team was the girl named Karui. And, if Shikamaru remembered right, it was the very same woman Chouji talked non-stop about. Kakashi decided to stay in hotel, while Shikamaru tagged along with Chouji. Even though Hidden Cloud village was so different from anything he saw up till now, it still wasn't enough to impress him. Especially not when his plans got ruined by the weather.

"What's up with him? Is he always spacing out like that?" It was Karui who asked. Probably she thought that he was too much in his thoughts to hear that.

"That's because his girlfriend is still not here."

"Girlfriend?"

"Yeah, you know Temari of the Desert."

Shikamaru tried to pretend he didn't hear that, even though it was hard to control his face from blushing. Was it that obvious for Chouji all along? Then Ino must have figured it out right away. Damn.

"Are they together? I mean he doesn't look like much..."

Chouji laughed.

"And what about you? Are you single?"

"Well, of course..."

Shikamaru suddenly felt himself a third wheel.

He should've stayed in the hotel.

It was already past nine in the evening when dark skinned white haired Omoi showed up.

"The Kazekage has arrived."

"This late?" Karui asked.

"Yeah. It was the storm, you know. Ah, what would I do if I'm stuck in the middle of the sandstorm? I'd probably die for sure..."

"If you don't stop blabbering, I'll kill you right now!" She clenched her fist, gathering all her patience not to look violent in front of Chouji.

"Anyways, Raikage ordered everyone to come back immediately." Omoi didn't even pay attention to his teammate's anger burst.

"Roger." Chouji said.

Shikamaru looked at his friend. If it was him, he'd probably be scared as hell right now, seeing Karui's behavior. Temari in her destructive mood will give him chills even after all this time. But Chouji didn't seem to care at all. As easygoing as he was, he would never complain about girls being scary. Did he even notice it? Shikamaru doubted that.

By the time they've reached Raikage's place everyone was already there. Mizukage - beautiful woman in her 30ties – was as relaxed as ever. Tsuchikage - very old man with big red nose - the rumors went on that he soon to be replaced by his granddaughter. Raikage – the blonde man with dark skin – was impatiently waiting for everyone to gather. Total opposite from him was Hokage - white haired man who was hiding half of his face. Kakashi looked like he was about to fall sleep. It was long past the time when such meetings were an awkward formality, right now all Five Kages were close enough for casual conversations and laughter. The only people who didn't participate in it were Sand Siblings. A simple look was enough to deduce that they were exhausted. Pale skin, dark circles under eyes and frail attitude made Temari look just like her youngest brother, although they hardly had anything similar in their appearances. Kankurou's makeup was half ruined, making him look even scarier than he usually was. It was only Gaara who could go without sleep for days, due to his experience with Shukaku sand spirit, and yet he looked that he was hugely deprived of chakra. They weren't even talking among themselves.

"We shall start the meeting now." It was Raikage.

"It's late already, why don't we rest for a night and start the meeting early in the morning? Just look at poor Kazekage." Mizukage said in her usual manner.

"No, don't mind us." Gaara said in a frail voice. He wasn't the loud type to begin with, but now you had to strain your ears to hear him speaking. "It was us who brought up the topic, we shouldn't be the one to delay it..."

"You're so sweet, Lord Kazekage." Mizukage gently smiled. "But it pains me to see you as exhausted as that."

"I must agree with Mizukage on this point." Squeaky voice of old man Oonoki cut in. "We'll need you at your sharpest for the meeting. Let's postpone it till morning. Moreover, my back will kill me if I sit for too long this late at night."

"Kakashi, what about you?" Raikage was irritated.

"I think we all deserve a good long sleep before we start the discussion. I'm with majority on this point."

'Just say that you want to sleep yourself.' Shikamaru smirked.

"Fine!" The head of Hidden Cloud village wasn't happy at all.

"I am very sorry about that," Gaara lowered his head.

"Don't be, Lord Kazekage." Mizukage smiled again. "Just make sure you can wake up on time."

Gaara gave a simple nod.

"We'll start this meeting tomorrow seven in the morning." Raikage concluded, swallowing his anger. "No excuses to be late this time."

With that everyone started to leave.

"Temari." Shikamaru called out. It was the first time when he noticed how the other representatives of the Union would look at the two of them. 'They all think we are together!' Shikamaru realized. It made him feel slightly uncomfortable, and yet Temari here didn't care about any on it.

"What's wrong?"

"It's unusual for you to be late. What happened?"

"The storm went on for three days. We didn't have another choice but wait it out. I guess continuing the journey without any rest at all didn't actually pay off." She seemed to fight urgent need to yawn.

Now looking from up close she seemed even more tired. Her skin was dry from dehydration, and sand mixed up with her golden hair and clothes.

"You should take a rest then."

Shikamaru heard Tsuchikage's granddaughter giggling as she passed by them. Omoi gave them understanding look plus thumbs ups. That moment Shikamaru decided that he liked shy Chojiro the most.

"What's up with them?" Temari looked confused.

"Who knows..." Shikamaru lied. A sudden thought made him realize that it was all Chouji's fault. And Karui's big mouth, of course. To think that the rumor would spread this quickly.

She turned around to look at her brothers.

"We should be going now. Till morning then."

"Yeah, rest well."

Two people he didn't want those rumors to reach were in the very same room after all. And both of her brothers were looking at him impatiently.

She waved goodbye and joined her family.

"Good for you." It was Chouji who put his arm on Shikamaru's shoulder.

"Chouji, stop spreading troublesome rumors, will you?"

"Aren't you two together?"

"No, we're not."

"Well, you certainly do look like a perfect couple." He laughed. "I mean, nobody was surprised at all. Most of the people would say something like 'I knew it!' or 'Weren't they together from the start?'"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes up.

"What a drag..."

Chouji was laughing.

"If both of her brothers kill me, I'll certainly blame you for that."

"Is it really not true? You can tell me, you know. We're friends after all." Chouji's eyes were glittering with laughter.

"No. Not... yet..." Shikamaru averted his eyes. It was strange to talk about it to Chouji.

"Aha! I knew it!"

"Knew what?"

"'Not yet' and 'not at all' are two totally different concepts. Then, my words are not entirely wrong."

"Chouji..."

"What?"

"What's your deal with Karui?" He just wanted to change the subject and that redhead was the first one to come up to his mind.

"She's amazing, you know! She was my guide around the Hidden Cloud last time. And I feel like we hit it off immediately. Plus, she's such a great cook! You should try her..."

The old Chouji is back. Endless food talk felt really nostalgic. 'When did we start to talk about anything else than food?' Shikamaru wondered.

* * *

The five Kage meeting started seven in the morning without further delay. The information leakage was discussed, as well as the methods to protect the communication from any interference. After that followed some minor details like Chuunin exam time and location, and the preferred agenda for the next Union meeting.

When they've left the conference room, it was already past noon.

"We'd like to invite all five Kage to the official lunch together, before you start you journey back." It was Raikage's secretary who said that.

With just this official mood disappeared. Kage escorts would casually group up for the lunch as well. Gaara was dragged along with the other Kage, Kankurou was discussing something with Darui.

If Shikamaru wanted a chance - this was it.

"Hey," he approached Temari.

"Oh, Shikamaru? What's the matter?" Casual serious tone of voice. And yet Shikamaru could already feel all the staring.

"Do you want to... grab a lunch together or something?"

All the pressure made it even harder.

"Yeah, sure." Not a slightest change in her voice. It's a good thing she doesn't know... "Let's go then."

"Hey, Temari!" It was Kankurou's voice. "Where are you going?"

"Out."

Kurotsuchi, Omoi and even Chouji started to giggle at Kankurou's confusion.

But, to Shikamaru's relief he didn't follow.

This whole mess is getting way too troublesome.

* * *

It was just as usual. A simple talk about some work related issues, just a little bit more relaxed atmosphere. If those guys were eavesdropping they would probably be disappointed. To tell the truth, Shikamaru was disappointed too.

"You're not listening." She wouldn't ask such obvious thing, since she already knew the answer.

"Sorry."

"What's wrong?"

Was it even ok to tell her that?

"I kind of have a feeling..."

"What?"

'Just spit it out, you, coward.'

"It just doesn't feel like a date at all." There, he said it.

"Huh?" Temari seemed surprised.

"It kind of feels like usual. Nothing really changed."

"Then... what would make it more like a date to you?"

Shikamaru scratched the back of his head.

"I don't know. Normal stuff, I think. Holding hands, hugging, kissing, something like that."

It took her longer time to process this.

"So..." she finally said. "You asked ME out on a date because you wanted to do all these things with ME?"

Straightforward as usual.

Shikamaru panicked. Her thinking wasn't wrong at all! It wasn't the way he intended to put it, but what she said was the only logical conclusion one can come up with. 'Oh, crap! What the hell am I doing?! She'll kill me if I don't come up with a decent answer! Think, you, idiot!' he thought, but his mind remained blank.

Then all of sudden he saw her hand stretched across the table to him.

"I don't know about other stuff, but this should be ok."

Shikamaru's confused brain stopped working at all. Was she serious? It was impossible to tell. And yet, knowing her character, it was likely for her to tease him like that. Girls in general were too troublesome to deal with, but this particular one would beat them all...

Serious or not?

The pause was getting too long.

And yet, she enjoyed his confusion. As next moment she started laughing.

"You should have seen your face." It was the only thing she managed to say.

Serious or not?

Well, there was the only way to know.

Temari's stretched hand was now lying on the table as she laughed.

He decided to risk it all.

She stopped laughing the second their hands touched. She was still smiling with tiny drops of tears in her eyes. She did look surprised, but yet somehow satisfied.

"Now this feels more like a date to you?" She asked.

So she was serious. And she didn't kill him. Those two were definitely a good sign.

"Yeah."

* * *

"So, how was the Hidden Cloud?"

The three of them were sitting together in their usual spot at the barbecue shop.

Ino, their teammate, was always too curious.

Chouji was busy eating, so... time for a little revenge.

"Chouji found himself a girlfriend there."

The look on their faces was probably just as astonished as the one Shikamaru had when he made Temari laugh to tears.

Chouji swallowed the meat he was chewing at the moment and grabbed a glass of water.

"Really?" Ino asked still amazed by the news.

"That's not true!" Chouji exclaimed. "She was just a nice person and a marvellous cook!"

"Oh my God, he found a girlfriend!" The look on the Ino's face was the one of a proud parent.

"I'm telling you, you got it all wrong! I don't even know what Karui-san thinks of me..."

"So her name is Karui-san. Good, this is good, Shikamaru."

In her little universe, he probably was Chouji's father.

"Right, you should be asking about his girlfriend instead!"

"Oh, come on! Everyone knew about him long time ago, but Chouji and a girl! This is huge!"

Chouji was blushing all over and eating twice as fast as usual when Ino attacked him with thousands of questions. Maybe it was wrong of Shikamaru to say that, especially considering the amount of money they'll have to pay today.

"Where is the waitress?" Chouji suddenly exclaimed. "I need more meat. I'll be right back."

He literally escaped.

Ino was laughing.

"Isn't he the cutest?"

"Yeah."

She turned her eyes to Shikamaru.

"So, what's your problem?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why the hell you and Temari are still not together?"

"How do you know?"

"I can see it all over your face. So why?"

"It's... complicated."

"Well, of course it is. Why don't you try putting it into words?"

"It just feels like there's no progress at all. And we're still at the same place as we were before I asked her out for the first time."

"I think, you're wrong here."

"Huh?"

"Well, how should I put it. It's all about the defence, you know."

"Defence?"

"The walls people build up around their hearts, they're meant to keep everyone else away. To stay unhurt and block out any emotions and feelings. You would expect someone like Temari to have loads of those."

"So, what am I to do now?"

"To make some progress, you'll have to break through those. Crawl under her skin, reach out to her true self and pull her real heart out. Only then you'll be able to see her girly face. "

That was something impossible to imagine.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I am! Listen, girls are all about the defence. To get her heart all you need to do is break through them. Once you see her 'girly face' it's pretty much your win! Attack when she lowers her guard! Take her by surprise! Once you see her face bright red - she's yours!" Ino winked and gave thumb up.

"She'll kill me if I try to do something like that."

"You can't know for sure. She might surprise you. She's a girl after all."

Shikamaru wasn't so sure about that either.

"What are you two talking about?" Chouji came back.

"Relationship advice. Want some?" Ino smiled brightly.

Chouji's smile disappeared from his face.

* * *

 **Author's note:** Not gonna delay this any further. Truth to be told, most of the chapters just need one final review. That's probably because the way I'm writing is kind of strange. I mean, my last chapters were ready before those in the middle, lol. Now that I'm binding it together with one storyline, it's different than writing it from the scratch.

Couple of words here! I love this chapter. I love how Ino is a relationship guru here, haha. And I love Temari's teasing side. You can't expect only one person making all the efforts, now can you? Sometimes you need a little push...

I'm hopeless, after all.

Hope you've enjoyed it. The rest is coming soon.


	3. Chapter 3: Formalities

Moments

Chapter 3: Formalities

"With this the urgent agenda of our meeting is over." Shikamaru concluded. "The last thing to discuss, would be the upcoming Chuunin exam. It was decided during the last Kage meeting that the exam would be held in three months. This year's host is going to be Hidden Sand Village. So I'd ask the village representative to take a charge on this matter." As he concluded, Temari stood up.

"We'll start preparations for the exams immediately, so first of all I'd ask all of you to forward us lists of the three men teams each village would like to nominate..."

The procedure too familiar for everyone, so this speech was just a necessary formality. It was just like Temari to make it as short as possible.

"If you have any questions, I'll answer them privately, there's no need for the rest of you to stay. That's all."

Even though it was kind of Shikamaru's job to say that. But in the end nobody seemed to mind it, even the guy himself.

It wouldn't be too bad to spend some time with him though, but a small crowd quickly separated her from the rest of the room. There're still some troublesome issues to take care of.

'When did I start to talk like him?' Temari wondered, answering the questions.

Crowd dissolved pretty quickly.

"Hey, Temari..." it was a young woman from Hidden Stone village. Next in the line of succession after her old grandfather Oonoki. She had a devilish smile on her face.

"So… are you official yet?"

That was a strange question.

"What are you talking about?"

"You and Shikamaru, of course! I mean it was obvious from the very beginning, but now there's this rumor..."

Temari was confused.

"Which rumor?"

"That you're together now. As a boyfriend and girlfriend, I mean."

"Ha?"

Well, now to think of it, Temari realized the real reason why people were giving them strange looks during the last Kage meeting.

'I wonder where that came from...'

She never lost her composure.

"That's not true."

"Oh, come on! We're both girls here. You can tell me!"

'Boyfriend and girlfriend, huh?' It didn't sound too bad. But still impossible for now. It was amazing just how two of the most capable ninjas in their villages can be this useless when it comes to relationship.

"There's nothing to say."

She cut off.

"Eh? Is that so? Then, how about I go get him for myself? He's kind of sweet."

She was lying. It was obvious from the beginning, that she was just bluffing to get the information she wanted out of Temari. It was also obvious that Shikamaru would find the girl like her too troublesome to deal with. But... what if Temari was wrong? What if Kurotsuchi would actually go and do that, and he'll just go along because it would be too troublesome to say no. The though did kind of hurt. It was illogical feeling based only on "what ifs". It was completely out of her character to even think about it. She realized it perfectly and yet couldn't help it.

"I'm going now!" The girl from Hidden Stone didn't make a single step towards the door, when Temari grabbed her by the hand. A little bit harder than necessary.

"Don't you dare."

That was the reaction she wanted.

"Oh-hoh, our Desert Queen is in loooooove."

Temari didn't reply.

"It's okay, you know? We're all actually happy for you two."

"It's not like that."

"You shouldn't think that way. I mean, everyone else can see it happen naturally. Why don't you?"

Temari took a deep breath to calm down feelings she could hardly understand. And yet it was useless.

She didn't say anything and headed to the exit. Just few more steps remained, when somebody appeared on her way.

"Huh? Temari, you ok?"

Of all people in this place it had to be HIM!

A strange irritating feeling rose up inside of her. Before she fully understood what she was doing, she clenched her fist and went for a punch. He crushed into the opposite wall.

"What the hell?"

One more second and she was herself again.

"Sorry." She murmured and stormed out.

"Ha?"

"It's looooooove!" Kurotsuchi was laughing.

* * *

"Ha?" Shikamaru couldn't understand at all what just happened.

"Don't mind her," it was Tsuchikage's granddaughter. "I might have... provoked her a little."

"Why?" Temari's punch hurt like hell.

"That's because you guys are so cute together! I'm totally rooting for you!" She laughed.

'Provoked? Don't tell me she would go and tell Temari about that stupid rumor Chouji started? Oh, crap. '

But he only said:

"What a drag..."

* * *

"Sorry, to drop all of it on your shoulders." Kakashi said, when the fifth pillar of papers ended up on Shikamaru's table.

The amount of work made him dizzy.

"What's is all that?"

"These are for the Chuunin exam."

"Was it always this many?"

"No, but this year the circumstances are different. It would be first time since the war, plus all countries participate. We do have a lot of things to sort out first."

"But the exam is going to be held in Hidden Sand..."

"Well, then you'll have to comfort yourself with a fact that they'll have to sort out even more papers than us." Kakashi didn't seem to be sad about throwing loads of work on Shikamaru. "You better start working already. Temari will be coming for these in three days."

He might have intended to motivate Shikamaru by saying that. But it didn't work. Three days for this much? He'll die first.

And yet he started working. It was hard to tell, just how much time had passed when he finished the first pillar, then second. He passed out while working on the third, and somehow managed to finish it too. It was the fourth one that made him want to die. He hardly heard when the door opened, but when someone touched him by the shoulder and asked "Are you ok?"

He could only let out desperate "Help me." Out of his mouth. And then passed out again.

When he opened his eyes again, the papers were still there.

"You awake now?" Familiar female voice. But she's not supposed to be here yet...

"Was it three days already?"

"Two days and twelve hours to be precise." She was working on the last papers of the pile. "I brought you some food. You should eat first."

His stomach loudly expressed his agreement with her words.

"But..."

"There's just couple more, I'll finish it in no time. Eat." She demanded.

He suddenly remembered that the last time they've met she punched him right into a wall. And now she was actually helping him out, even though she was supposed to leave a long time ago. 'Girls are crazy.' He started eating. Judging from the state of his stomach, he kind of forgot a couple of meals.

"All right." Temari said. "All done. I'll be taking these back with me." Her perfect concentration broke as she stretched her body.

The setting sun was coloring the room into bright orange.

When did she opened curtains? Well, rather than that, when did she opened the window? That, and getting food, plus working through all those papers. When did she managed to do all that?

"Sorry for the trouble."

"Nah, its ok. But I've never expected you of all people to nearly work your way to the grave." She chuckled.

"Oh, well..." he didn't know what to say.

"You should know better than be this reckless with the work. At least eat your meals properly, and don't keep the windows shut..."

She continued with her usual lecture. For someone like Shikamaru it was always way too annoying to listen to those, after all, his mother does that a lot too. But somehow this time he felt happy to hear Temari's strict scolding. 'It's probably just in her nature to be like that. Strict, yet caring.' It took him a while to understand what hides under her serious face, but somehow it became clear just now.

"Hey, Shikamaru. Are you listening at all?"

"Temari." He smiled. "Thank you for today. You really saved me."

She stood in silence for few moments.

"Not at all." She finally said. "You too. I'm sorry for the last time."

She said it in the calm voice without any trace of embarrassment. But still it sounded sincere.

"Nah, that's ok. I think I deserve a beating or two."

"Yeah, you probably do." She smiled. "I got to go now. See you around."

"Wait." Shikamaru stood up. "I'll see you to the gates."

"There's no need." She said a little bit surprised.

"Let's just go already."

He didn't fully comprehend what Ino was trying to tell him, but then he just simply thought 'If I die - I die' and grabbed Temari's hand.

* * *

She kept silent all the way till the gates, but still didn't kill him. That kind of made Shikamaru happy, although he expected a mortal blow any time.

"You can let go now." Temari said in her usual voice.

"Yeah." He didn't.

He turned around. She tried really hard to look unbothered by the fact that they were holding hands, that it kind of looked cute. Although you could hardly see the difference from her usual self.

'Maybe Ino was right after all.' Shikamaru could almost feel the walls crumbling.

"Let go." She demanded.

Shikamaru didn't want to force his luck.

"Well, take care." He said letting her hand go.

"Yeah, you too." With just that she left.

"Well done, lad!" It was one of the shinobi on guard duty. "Running after her like that was worth it, huh?" He was grinning happily.

The guy from that time?

How come he remembered?

'What a drag...'

* * *

 **Author's note** : Short chapter this time. Somehow it just looks a bit too short compared to other... Originally it was a part of Chapter 2, I wonder if I made a mistake separating them. Anyway, with this the Introduction part is over. It's gonna get interesting from now on, haha. Both about story, and the romance.

If I would write an epigraph to this chapter I would use Shikamaru's line "If I die - I die". You might say here that Temari is not the type to say 'sorry' twice. But it wasn't about that. The second sorry was for being unprofessional and losing her control. So it's different, actually. I know many would say that she's not the type to say 'sorry' at all. Well, that's because she knew herself it was unreasonable of her. That's why 'sorry'. Reasons stronger than pride. In my mind Temari is just like that. Everyone there is shipping ShikaTema, haha. I mean, why wouldn't they?)) Oh, well. You might think that I'm repeating myself with the paperwork stuff, but... I tried to put those two scenes together, and failed. Well, there's always plenty of paperwork for them to do...

Hope you enjoyed. More coming soon~


	4. Chapter 4: Sandstorm

Moments

Chapter 4: Sandstorm

"Kakashi-san, the message from Sasuke arrived this morning."

"Did he finish investigating?"

"It seems that their intuition was right. The matter is serious."

"What did he find out?"

"The disruption in communication with Hidden Sand was happening for a long time. They're lucky to even notice it, actually. Seems, that they have means to unseal the scrolls sent with hawks, and any radio connection is retransmitted to the third source, which is impossible to track." Shikamaru paused. "Sasuke believes that a group of rebels was formed in Hidden Sand, and they most likely believe in the Fourth Kazekage's cause. They're aiming to break our alliance."

Kakashi went silent.

"What do you think?" He finally asked.

Shikamaru closed his eyes. When he opened them again, unsettling thought came to his mind.

"I don't think it's not only Sand village. Breaking just one alliance is meaningless after all. Sasuke said that it's almost impossible to notice data leakage. It can only mean two things: first, the guys in Hidden Sand were just too careful; and second, rebels let them notice the leaks, for us to concentrate our attention on Hidden Sand. I, personally, believe it's the second one. It's just a part of a bigger scheme."

"Did Sasuke made any contact with them?"

"No. There are no leads whatsoever. They're too careful."

"Hmmm..."

"There's another thing. While we turn our eyes to the Hidden Sand village, they'll probably gather more people in other great nations. Which will, probably mean, that their roots and their base is in Sand Village right now. If we delay it any further, they might grow too big."

"I see your point." Kakashi said in calm voice. "Take those papers. These are the candidates from Hidden Leaf for the upcoming chuunin exam. You must set out to Sand village to deliver them tomorrow morning."

"Yes." Shikamaru took the papers.

It might sound strange to hold chuunin exam in Hidden Sand village this year, but that was all part of a plan. Only this time of the year each village representatives can freely travel across the borders without gathering unneeded attention. It was a great chance to pass down the information without relying on any means of communication.

Seeing the papers made Shikamaru remember the huge pile he had to deal with just a while ago.

"No paperwork for me this time?"

"Oh, well. Sorry about that time. It was urgent."

"You could have helped."

"You've had enough help, didn't you?" Kakashi winked at him. "And you still managed to delay those for two days."

If was only after Temari left that Shikamaru realized that couple of days were missing from his life. And in fact, when she said 'two days', she meant the time since she arrived.

"It's not really nice to throw it onto our guests."

"She didn't seem to mind it. You'll have the chance to repay it tomorrow. Go get ready."

"Yes."

Shikamaru left.

* * *

She was waiting for him on a border where there were no trees anymore, just the endless sea of sand.

"Took you long enough. I've been waiting for hours." Temari yawned.

Her outfit was almost completely hidden under the huge scarf.

"What are you doing here?" Shikamaru wondered. Not that he wasn't happy to see her.

"Officially, there are still heavy storms raging in the Land of Wind, so I'm here to guide you through the desert."

"And unofficially?"

"In case those guys decide to attack the messengers. Basically, I need to make sure that you won't die in the desert. No matter the reason."

Considering the information Sasuke managed to gather, it wasn't just empty precaution.

"You?"

"Officially chuunin exam. Unofficially..."

"Is it that serious?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Then don't waste your breath and get going. It's still long way to the Sand village."

He simply nodded. The desert wasn't a best place for romantic interactions.

"Wear this." She gave him a scarf similar to the one she's wearing. "I won't be able to carry you all the way if you'll get a sunstroke, plus it'll be easier to breathe. And harder to recognize your face."

His confused look was enough for her to realize that he had no idea how to wear that.

"All right, come here." She handled the scarf in few precise movements. "Hope you know basic rules of survival in the desert?" Half of her face was covered too, but Shikamaru could swear that she was smiling.

"Sort of."

"Then let's go."

"You do that for all the messengers?"

"Yes. They know you're coming, so we can't afford to risk. You don't need assassins in the desert, since it can finish the enemy off by itself. That's something my father used to say."

They were moving pretty fast through the golden mountains as she spoke. The sun was scorching right above their heads, making Shikamaru regret wearing any clothes at all. That was a trap, since one of the survival rules states clearly - as less open skin as possible. Well, that didn't bother Temari much, since her skirt was short and so were the sleeves.

"Why is it you and not Kankurou meeting the guests?"

It was pretty obvious that only two older siblings were worthy of Kazekage's trust completely.

"I'm more accustomed to the desert and its dangers. Plus, he's busy at the moment."

Just after couple of minutes Shikamaru felt thirsty. Or was it more? It was hard to tell as the sun didn't seem to move at all.

Temari looked up on the sun.

"Alright, water break. Remember not to drink too much."

"How long is it till the village?"

"Just about one-day walk."

They didn't talk much later. Every couple of hours Temari would make them stop to drink water, other than that it was easier not to talk.

"I hope you don't mind walking through the night." She said when the sun started its way down to the horizon. She seemed concerned.

"What's wrong?"

"Just my intuition. Maybe I'm imagining things. I mean, I hope I am."

If it was enough to make her worry, then the matter must be serious.

"Then we should hurry." There was a simple rule in shinobi world - never neglect intuition.

As the sun was setting, the temperature in the desert dropped. It wasn't until the nightfall when it started to get really cold.

"We'll take a break here." Temari said.

She suddenly said as the time reached midnight. The place was hardly different from the rest of the desert: couple of dried trees and stone blocks hinted that long time ago people used to live here.

"We'll need firewood." She said, casually ordering him around. Shikamaru himself noticed it only when he reached for the dried branch.

She had no problem making fire. After all, there can't be any rain in the desert.

"Don't get too cozy, we'll stay here only for a short while." She said filling small kettle with water.

"Why stop then?"

"So you won't die, idiot. Look at you, you're practically hypothermic." As the water boiled she added herbs into the kettle. The sweet smell started to fill the air, kind of similar to the one Temari was wearing.

'So those are the herbs...' Shikamaru thought taking the cup of tea. It was sweet, way too sweet for his taste, but he drank it anyways. Very soon the warmth started to return to his body and he admitted that Temari was right.

She added more water to the kettle.

"All shinobi of the Sand can do that?"

"Well, they have to. It's basics after all. We might be not the strongest out there, but we are good at surviving." She took a sip from her cup. "If you can't survive in the desert, you're not fit to be a shinobi. Easy as that."

"That's why you trained here?"

"Not really. Desert is a good playground for wind users. You can't do any harm if it's only sand around."

Shikamaru remembered her using her wind in the Leaf village forest, and the range of destruction was huge. So that kind of made sense.

She poured the rest of the tea into the cups.

"Drink it up, and we'll get going."

She didn't talk much in the desert. Temari was fully concentrating on her senses, somehow she seemed more relaxed back in the Leaf. Was it the threat she was sensing, or just the desert - Shikamaru didn't know. He didn't feel anything at all.

As the tea was finished, Temari gathered the leaves and threw them into the desert wind.

"What are you doing?"

"Just a little charm for luck. A little the ritual to ask desert spirits to help you finding your lover. Or something like that." She started packing. "Kind of the habit of mine." *

That sounded unexpectedly cute.

"Who taught you that?"

"Hmm... was it my father? I can't really remember. But it kind of special for Kazekage bloodline. I would doubt though that my father would rely on the desert spirits to find his lost lover."

Not that he knew the man, but according to what he heard from Temari he would doubt that too.

"Yashamaru would be more likely. He seems like the type."

"Who is that?"

"He was my uncle. Used to take care of Gaara when my brother was small." The tone of her voice became just as cold as the desert night.

'Was' and 'used to' were enough hints to deduce, that there was a sad story connected to that. There weren't many happy moments for Sand Siblings after all.

They've kept going through the night, taking the breaks every couple of hours. When the morning came, tension was growing.

As they've passed through another abandoned city Temari said:

"We should reach Sand village by noon." She stopped. "Or rather should have been. Sandstorm is coming."

They were hardly on time to take cover when it hit. Abandoned city was a good place to wait it out.

"Was it what your intuition was telling you?" Shikamaru asked when they entered one of the empty houses.

"Not sure. You should rest. It might take a while."

"What about you?"

"I'll wake you up if anything happens."

"How come it's you to take a first guard?"

"Just don't start your usual crap about men and women." She gave a faint smile. "I'm your guide now, so stop complaining and go to sleep."

Shikamaru doubted that he could fall asleep, though. Even though it was a long day, he still didn't feel right about it. But he closed his eyes anyways. It was just about the next moment that he felt Temari's hand on his shoulder.

"What is it?"

"It's been around three hours already."

"Huh?" He didn't notice himself falling asleep at all.

"Anything suspicious?" He sat right beside her.

"Nothing except for this storm." Temari yawned. She seemed more relaxed now.

"What do you mean?"

"It's manmade."

"How do you know?"

"You got to listen to the wind."

Shikamaru doubted anyone else would actually manage to do that. Not even every wind user is capable of that. He was thinking of his deceased teacher Asuma, as he felt a sudden weight on his shoulder. Now that she knew the source of the danger, Temari finally allowed herself to rest, and she was fast about that too. Shikamaru found himself looking down at her sleeping face, that was half covered by her golden fringe. Shikamaru couldn't help but wonder why this choice of hairstyle. A lot of female ninja would choose to cut their hair short, it was easier this way, especially in the desert, where convenience is valued more than a beauty. But Temari still decided to keep it. 'She would probably look good with her hair loose,' he thought. 'How long is it, anyways?' Staying in this position made him catch the weak sweet flowerish fragrance and his heart started to go crazy again. 'If I were to hug her now, she'll probably kill me', he thought, but the desire was too strong. Instead, he leaned forward so that his lips will touch her fringe.

'So soft...' he thought. 'And fluffy. Girls hair does feel nice.' His face went red, when he realized what exactly he was doing. 'Cut it out, you, idiot! Want to die?' He said to himself, but seeing her as defenseless as that made him want to touch her more.

At first Shikamaru kind of felt happy about that, but the next three hours turned out to be a torture.

* * *

"What's wrong with your face?" Was the first thing Temari asked when she woke her up.

"N-nothing..." as intuitive as always. Even though he tried his best to keep a straight face.

"Liar." She yawned.

'Was it that obvious?' He kind of wished he could see his face right now.

"The storm's over."

"I can hear that. If we go now, we might be able to reach Hidden Sand before dark."

The abandoned city they took cover in was covered in sand. Few more years, maybe, and it'll completely disappear underground.

"What made you think it was manmade storm?" Shikamaru asked.

"This." Temari touched a deep cut on the wall. "This is Kamaitachi cut. Not enough firepower to kill though. But few of these cuts in the middle of sandstorm will create an illusion of an attack. Ninja stupid enough would start running and die disoriented in the storm, while the attacker would be far away. Pretty clever."

"So this city..."

"Well, I've changed route a little to pass through here. Hope you don't mind."

She figured that out before the nightfall, calculated the time and found a suitable place to take cover. It wasn't just plain intuition, that was an instinct. She wasn't promoted to jonin at a young age for nothing.

"Good thinking."

"Let's go."

The rest of the journey went peacefully, with one simple miscalculation: when they've reached Sand village, it was already dark.

* * *

 **Author's note:** So I went through my published chapters one more time, and that was the moment when I realized that my scene breaks were gone. I guess, that's what you'll get for being a new one here. Did a bit of formatting as well, and put all the flashbacks in italic. And I also realized that the spelling check is broken on my computer. Nevertheless, posting new chapter today!

This… is one of the cutest chapters I wrote. Had the scene in mind, didn't know how to play it out though. Turned out perfectly! So, I'm starting to fall back into my usual inner-monologue style. You'll see what I mean in the next few chapters, haha.

* the star there was to mark Gaara Hiden reference. I wasn't the one to make that up, so don't blame me. But It was too cute not to include.

I''ve been thinking a lot though. Living in a desert is hard. Going through the desert is even harder… but then again, nobody even broke a sweat during Kazekage rescue mission. That kind of left me a bit disappointed. So I want to focus on the survival point here. Like in Gaara Hiden.

No more things to say. Stay updated!


	5. Chapter 5: Failure

**Author's note:** Wanna take just a little bit of your time here to express my thanks to everyone for yours reviews! Those words give me butterflies, haha. Really grateful, guys! This chapter started it all. Without this chapter this story would never exist in the first place. Hope you'll like it as much as I do.

* * *

Moments

Chapter 5: Failure

Temari opened door without even knocking.

"Gaara, you here?"

Lord Kazekage indeed was there. Buried in the mountain of paperwork, but he didn't seem to mind it. After all, Gaara was deeply asleep.

"Not again." Temari chuckled.

Apparently this scene didn't surprise her at all.

"What happened to him?" Shikamaru asked, wondering what would happen to Kakashi if he was discovered sleeping on the working place.

"It's just how he is. He probably got excited about guests from Hidden Leaf coming, so he decided to finish all paperwork in one go. He worked without sleep again for three days straight and then collapsed. It happens a lot lately."

She opened one of the closets and took out a thin blanket. Shikamaru guessed that she was long prepared for this kind of situation. Temari covered her little brother and took first of the many documents piled up around Lord Kazekage.

"You should probably go back and get some rest. I'll finish here first."

Gaara was surely lucky to have her as a sister.

"Why don't you wake him up?"

"Oh, that's impossible. In his current state he won't wake up."

"And what if there's some kind of emergency?"

"I'll handle that."

Somebody knocked. She left the office without letting the man in.

"Temari-san, you're back."

"What is it?"

"Important message for Lord Kazekage."

"Gaara is busy at the moment. He's in the middle of meeting with the guest from Hidden Leaf village. He's not to be bothered. Let me see the message."

"Yes, ma'am."

'So that's what she calls "I'll handle it"?' thought Shikamaru. Even though she was technically right about Gaara having Leaf village guest, but it was still too far from the truth. If this was to happen in Hidden Leaf... well, Hokage doesn't have a loyal sister to cover his ass in times like that.

Young shinobi from Hidden Leaf walked around plain office. He probably expected more. But lifestyle here in Sand was actually different. They simply had no time for fancy decorations. They were busy surviving every single day of their lives. That's why they personalities grow stern, just like the needles on desert cacti, and their hearts grow rough, like stones polished by thousands of sandstorms. It was a poor country, perhaps even the poorest of them all, and unlike any other Hidden Village, they couldn't afford fanciness. They were in a middle of survival war every minute of their lives.

'Hmm, what is that?' Corner of a simple picture frame was sticking out from the pile of papers. Shikamaru pulled it out, causing few papers to fall. Looks like Temari was right - Gaara didn't even flinch.

'Wow, that does bring back memories.'

It was one of the pictures they usually make when a four-man group of genin is formed. A grown man, that covers half of his face - that was their teacher, although Shikamaru couldn't remember his name. Young Temari, young Kankurou (although he didn't seem to change much), and little Gaara with fierce look in his eyes. None of them smiled on this picture. It was way too different from the ones they take in Hidden Leaf. Nevertheless, this picture probably meant a lot to Gaara to have it in his office. If Shikamaru would take a guess, he'd say that this picture was a reminder of how it used to be and how it shouldn't be from this point on. Gaara really did change since they'd met for the first time.

The fallen papers unravelled another picture. Shikamaru took it without any fear to wake Kazekage up. The second picture portrayed a single woman in traditional Hidden Sand clothes. Light brown short hair, dark eyes and gentle smile. She was very beautiful, but more than that she seemed extremely familiar. Shikamaru felt that he's seen her face somewhere before. Maybe different hairstyle? Or different facial expression? It was one of those times when the answer you look for is there, within your reach, but every time you try to grasp it, it just sleeps through your fingers. Nevertheless, it was kind of surprising to see Gaara having a picture of a woman on his desk. Who might it be? A student, perhaps. She looked young. Shikamaru tried to remember faces of the genin Sand village sent last time for the chuunin exam, but the answer still seemed wrong.

"What are you looking at?" Shikamaru was too deep in his thoughts that he didn't hear Temari coming back.

'Maybe, it's better to ask' he thought.

"Who is she?"

"Hmm?" Temari came closer and took the picture from his hands. "Oh, that..."

Sudden realization struck young shinobi. As Temari smiled gently looking at the picture, it suddenly became crystal clear who this woman reminded him of. Yeah, the hair was different, but other than that it was as if Temari was staring in the mirror. The eyes, the nose, lips and even chin line, it was all the same.

"That's our mother."

Yes, the resemblance was pretty obvious, yet it was the expression that made huge difference. Temari never wears that kind of caring gentle look on her face, and smile like that was super rare. If she were to look at him like that, Shikamaru thought, he'd probably be very...

He tried to get rid of this thought before his face turned red.

"You, kind of, look like her."

"And yet you couldn't tell that she's my mother?" Temari laughed. "Don't lie your ass of, Shikamaru."

'It's all your fault for being too serious all the time.' He thought. 'If only she'd smile more often...' But then, on the other hand, he'd hate somebody else to see her smile like that. So maybe it was actually a good thing. It makes those moments very special to him.

Temari put the picture back on the table and started to sort out the papers that became Kazekage's downfall tonight.

"You should seriously head back. It can take a while."

"Nah, that's too troublesome." He scratched the back of his head. "I'd rather stay here and help you with those."

She looked startled.

"And in what universe dealing with paperwork is less troublesome than going back to rest?"

Her sarcastic tone of voice made him blush a little.

"I mean, you've helped me a lot back then, so I kind of want to repay that favor."

It was just couple of weeks ago, when she found him buried in papers just like Lord Kazekage a while ago. And, to his shame, Shikamaru found himself begging for her help. It took another two days to sort that pile out, but Shikamaru was sure, he wouldn't able to finish it on his own. He kind of felt envious of Gaara, to have someone this capable right beside him. While Hokage's 'capable one' was Shikamaru himself, which made him feel even more useless.

"That's more like it. Fine, just start from that side of the table."

The work was going very fast, in fact Gaara finished almost everything by himself. The other documents were separated in several piles. One of them had a tiny piece of paper on top of it _"Sign these later, I've checked everything. Tem"_ , another one was _"Important. Take care of it first thing in the morning"_ , the last one stated _"Can be handled by your assistants"_. For the whole this time Lord Kazekage didn't even move. Shikamaru even wondered if Gaara was actually alive, since he himself knew how dreadful are the mountains of paperwork.

"That should do it," exhaled Temari adding the last paper to the appropriate time. "There's even some time to sleep left."

It was still dark outside, probably around three in the morning if Shikamaru counted it right judging from the stars.

"You sure, it's a good idea to leave him like that?"

"He'll be ok. It's not like I can do anything about it, anyway."

"Well, technically, you can carry him home..."

That was a bad idea. Especially judging from the look Temari gave him.

"Just what kind of woman do you think I am?"

Well, the answer would be super strong one. But she wouldn't like it. And Shikamaru himself wouldn't like what she would do to him for these kind of words.

Temari exhaled.

"Plus, that's still impossible. You can't touch him when he's like this."

"Why is that?"

She didn't say anything, instead she walked to Kage's table, clenched her fist and tried to throw this devastating power onto her brother's head. Shikamaru knew too well, how this fist tastes like, and fell sorry for Gaara for a moment. But then, sand shield came in the way to block his sister's fist of love.

"Maybe, if you didn't try to punch him..."

Temari gave him a glare.

"It just doesn't work. Mother guards his sleep. She wouldn't let me touch him."

"Your mother?"

"Well, that's what our father said during the Fourth World War. Our mother's spirit, her soul and chakra lives on in Gaara's sand to protect him from any harm."

She gave a faint smile.

"How's that even possible?"

"Don't ask me. But after Shukaku was gone, her presence became stronger."

She stood still for a moment, looking at her brother. Her facial expression was impossible to read, just like most of the times.

"Let's go." Temari finally said.

"To where? Do inns ever work at this hour?"

"Our place has plenty of spare rooms. That house is too big for three people, anyway."

Inviting a guy to her house in the middle of the night without even a slightest blush and in casual tone... out of all girls Shikamaru knew, Temari was the only one capable of doing that. He wouldn't even be surprised if her other brother was out on the mission. It was worth asking, though.

"Is Kankurou there?"

"I don't know. Does it matter?" She yawned.

Yup, that's Temari for you.

That thought made Shikamaru smile.

Well, nobody in the right mind will ever attack her, unless he had a death wish.

* * *

The Kazekage residence was indeed huge. It was probably built for a bigger family. But Sand Siblings ended up in this half empty place not because of their wish for extravagance, but rather by losing all of their family members. That's what Shikamaru thought staring at the ceiling as he found himself unable to sleep. His thoughts mainly circled around his hosts - Sand Siblings and their family. The face of a woman from the picture in Kazekage's office came to mind. Would the story have played out differently if she stayed alive?

There was no use thinking about that.

He sat on his bed wondering if it would be too rude of him to walk around the house looking for a glass of water. But staying in this room when his head was filled with thousands different thoughts was just too painful. A game of Shogi would probably help him to sort them out, but looking for that would be even creepier than sneaking around for a glass of water. Or, maybe just some fresh air will help to clear his head. Shikamaru remembered seeing a huge balcony right outside the living room. He left the room as quiet as possible.

And yet, he seemed to misjudge a lot of things. First of all, it was the air. It's 'freshness' made him shiver from cold. And secondly, being quiet was totally useless, as Temari didn't sleep either. She was staring at the thin yellow line over the horizon, as the sun was beginning to rise. She changed into more comfortable clothes. As light as it was, she didn't seem to be bothered by low temperature.

"Aren't you cold?" Shikamaru asked.

Temari turned to him with rather surprised look. She didn't notice him at all. That was rare.

"Not really. I've spent months in the desert training. I guess, I'm already used to it. What are you doing here?"

"Couldn't sleep."

He came closer. Temari didn't reply. That was the first time Shikamaru saw her like that - wearing simple clothes, with her hair loose and without usual militant attire she did look just like her mother. Only the expression on her face was different.

'So it's actually below her shoulders…' he finally got his answer.

"You?" He asked.

"Same here. Too much stuff on my mind"

Maybe that was actually for the best.

"Hey, what was she like?"

"Who?"

"Your mother."

"Why so suddenly?"

"No reason, just curious."

She remained silent for a while, as if gathering her thoughts.

"She was very gentle, loving person. But, I guess you can tell that from her looks." Temari smiled. "I was still too small to remember a lot of details, though. But I do remember loving being with her. Was it cooking, or nursing baby Kankurou, or singing lullabies to unborn Gaara, I loved it all. She even used to do my hair every morning. At that time she was saying something about how girls should look cute all the time, for their prince is already on his way." Temari laughed. "I mean, how funny is that?"

'So it's because of her mother that she won't cut it short…' he actually got another answer without even asking.

Shikamaru smiled too, trying to imagine little Temari as a princess.

"Is it because of her that you always try to take care about the others?"

"Why do you think that?"

"Well, I mean... you're kind of natural at that. The way you treated Gaara today, or how you actually helped me before. I mean, you didn't have to do any of these, but you still end up putting other's interests before your own... Argh, I don't know how to explain it better, I just sort of noticed it about you, that's all..."

Now she definitely looked surprised and maybe a little bit embarrassed, speaking in Temari terms, of course. Yet, that lasted only for a second. Her facial expression went completely blank.

"You got it all wrong."

"Eh?"

"It's not like that at all. It's because..." she hesitated. That was probably her first time saying it out loud. "That's because..." She exhaled, closed her eyes, and then the next moment her usual serious face was back. "That's because I'm a failure."

Shikamaru was shocked. To think that Temari of all people...

"What... are you talking about?"

"I was born failure, as simple as that. Countless times I was thinking, what if it was me, who was compatible with Shukaku. I mean, it should have been me. Then maybe our mother wouldn't have died giving birth to Gaara. And his whole existence wouldn't have turned into a living hell. If it was me, I would have handled it better. I mean, if it was me from the very beginning, everything would be different. Maybe, our mother would still be alive, and even if she's not, at least I would be there to guide both of my brothers. If only I was the one..." She smiled bitterly. "And yet I failed."

It probably sounded even more demanding coming out from Temari's mouth. Because, that's just how she was. Bossy, pushy, demanding and often unreasonable, but always true to her character. And yet, hearing those words made Shikamaru understand one simple truth about this woman: whatever she demanded from the others, she demanded from herself in tenfold.

"You can't possibly blame yourself for that..."

"And yet, I do. Because in that case I wouldn't have failed for the second time." She clenched her hands. This confession was even harder than the first one. "This time as an older sister"

"Huh?"

"My mother... she meant a world to me. I'm pretty sure you know how it feels to lose someone like that."

He did. He certainly did know what she was talking about. The world that was previously illuminated with warmth and happiness, would suddenly turn into pitch black darkness, that will slowly consume you whole. He experienced it as a teenager, but for a little kid it would probably be even more painful.

"I hated him for quite a while, you know. Not because he was Jinchuriki, or any of the sorts, but because he stole my mother away."

She was now looking at her clenched fists.

"My father didn't know any of this. He hardly paid any attention to me or Kankurou, as we were failures. But he made sure to isolate Gaara from us. Maybe, it was even for our own safety. Anyway, I didn't mind any of that. In my mind he was a villain. He was around two, when we first met. Probably, got lost or something. I guess I was about to push him away, when he grabbed my shirt and with those huge sad eyes of his asked me 'Mama?' "

Temari gave a sad laughter.

"That was just too cute. Seeing that kid, whom everyone treated like a monster, desperate for any connection of any sorts, melted my heart. Our mother probably meant a world for him too, yet only thing he could do - was staring at the picture. And I was the luckiest one to actually know her, I had my time with her, but yet this kid had no one to love him like a mother would. That day I decided to bury those feelings deep down inside of my heart. It wasn't his fault after all."

She was still looking down at her hands. With her golden hair covering half of her face, it was difficult to know which expression she had now.

"That doesn't make you a failure..."

"I could have talked to him. I could have been his friend. Sneaking behind my father's back was an easy task, since he'd never been around. It would have taken me no effort at all to actually build that bonds any siblings should have. Then, by the time our father would break his heart he would have someone to hold on to. Someone to tell him that all of that was just a lie, someone to tell him how our mother really was, and how she waited for him to be born. I didn't need to do anything special, just be there for him. And yet... I didn't do a thing. Kept my distance, followed father's orders, remained a stranger to him. When he was pushed into the darkness, I didn't do a thing. And by that time it was already too late for anything."

Her voice was shaking. Someone else wouldn't probably notice a thing, but for Shikamaru, who knew all too well how Temari's voice should sound like, it was as clear as a bright day.

"Do you understand now? I didn't do anything."

Shikamaru could perfectly understand that feeling, as he himself experienced something similar years ago. Yet, the one adults forbade him to approach was a friend, not a brother. Still, bitter feeling of regret dwelled inside of his heart for some time.

"To make matters worse, it was a complete stranger to pull him out of his hell. When it should have been me. It should have been me from the very beginning."

Few drops of water fell on her clenched fists. One might think that it was just rain. But not in here, not in Hidden Sand. The rain in the desert was probably just as rare as Temari's tears.

"Would you look at that... I guess, I lack emotional training as well..."

Still shocked, Shikamaru could only think of one thing to do. He moved forward and embraced her, before she could even react. Her tears felt cold through his shirt, her hands pressed against his chest, leaving a little bit space between their bodies, her soft hair brushed against his cheek.

"What are you doing?" She demanded almost in her usual voice. Almost.

"Just don't talk and stay like this for a while."

He couldn't possibly answer that question, as he didn't know the answer himself.

It took her few seconds to relax. And then one more little effort to eliminate the remaining distance between the two of them as she hugged him back. Probably it was because of her attitude that she looked taller and stronger than she actually was. Temari right now felt unexpectedly fragile and small with all strength gone from her posture. Her hands clinging onto the back of his shirt felt tiny too. Shikamaru wondered when was the exact time he grew taller than her.

People cry all the time. It doesn't really matter, if they are children or adults. There's generally nothing wrong with crying to begin with. It only takes a wound deep enough to make one's eyes water up and hell lot of a time to get over it. Until the next wound, and then the wound after that. Eventually, people learn to live with the pain. People learn not to shed tears. It doesn't mean that the scars will ever disappear, it just means that you have to be strong again. After all, even the strongest people cry...

But girls especially love crying. Shikamaru saw it so many times with his classmates. He generally preferred working with guys, because they won't go emotional all of sudden. He used to hate girls. Since most of them was stupid yet very bossy, not capable of doing anything yet demanding a lot. They live in their own worlds full of love and butterflies, but when this world starts to crumble they go berserk. They're so noisy about cool and good looking guys, yet those who is not up to their standards doesn't stand a chance. The young version of Shikamaru would probably complain here how girls use their tears against the guys.

He learned a lot later that there was an exception to this rule. Even now in Shikamaru's mind Temari wasn't supposed to cry. She was the only person who wasn't meant for that. Temari who has always been strong and emotionally consistent was standing out among all the girls he knew. It was wrong to see her like this, to the point that it was physically painful. Temari of all people in the world shouldn't be crying. If somebody were to ask Shikamaru, what would he choose between seeing her cry again or having her boss him around till the end of his days, he would probably choose the second.

The sky was getting brighter with every passing minute. It wouldn't take long before the sunrise. The two of them were still standing together embracing each other. She wasn't crying anymore. In fact, she probably almost immediately stopped her tears. But after this scene, it would be just too awkward to face each other right now. Especially since she let him see her weak side. Something that wasn't supposed to be shown to anybody, something that wasn't supposed to be said to anyone. Yet, for some reason she decided to let him in. Now that he was thinking about it, Shikamaru couldn't really find a reason for her to tell any on those.

"You ok?" He finally asked.

"Yeah."

"Want to let go?"

She clenched harder.

"I'll take that as a no."

Silence again.

"Well, you'll have to let go eventually."

"Is there any way to make it less awkward? You're the strategist. Think."

"Well, I can think about at least 200 ways to make the situation even more awkward than it already is."

"Damn."

"Your brother's going to wake up soon. You don't really want him to see you like that."

"I'll kick his ass if he dares to say anything."

"You'll have to let go for that. So I'll eventually see your face."

That was a long shot. But he was right. The Desert Queen was embarrassed. Was it about the whole situation, about her moment of weakness, or maybe even for hugging him. It didn't really make a difference.

"Fine, whatever."

She let go.

No matter how hard she tried avert her eyes it was still impossible to cover her face. No one could have guessed that she cried. She was pouting with her cheeks bright red.

The sight so unusual, that made Shikamaru blush himself.

'C-cute...'

He remembered the words his teammate Ino once told him: _'Listen, girls are all about the defence. To get her heart all you need to do is break through them. Once you see her 'girly face' it's pretty much your win! Attack when she lowers her guard! Take her by surprise! Once you see her face bright red - she's yours!'_ Ino winked and gave thumb up in his mind. Back then he told her something like _'She'll kill me if I try to do something like that.'_ But now he kind of thought that he wouldn't mind if he died trying.

Seeing Temari like that made Shikamaru realize that it indeed was the 'girly face' Ino was talking about. That was probably his only chance and he wasn't going to blow it.

So he made a step forward and kissed her.

The surprised look as her face went from ivory to bright red was certainly worth seeing.

He kissed her again making this time longer and deeper. She didn't resist, though. This time she replied.

"The hell you're doing?" She gasped for air.

"I kind of... didn't want anyone else..." he breathed heavily "to see that girly face of yours..."

"Huh?"

He kissed again.

"Why?.."

"Because I loved it."

This time it was her reaching out for his lips.

"K-kankurou..."

"To hell with him..."

There was not a single inch of space between them now. All that mattered was another pair of lips and the person whom they belonged to. The outside world somehow perished to exist.

Somewhere in the house the door opened.

Before Shikamaru could even fully comprehend what that sound can mean, Temari had already acted. Her fist hit Shikamaru right in his guts, sending him flying across the balcony.

"The hell you're doing, Temari?" Sleepy Kankurou opened balcony door.

"Nothing much." Her usual serious face was back on, as if nothing happened few minutes ago.

"Why are you punching our guests?" He was completely unrecognizable without his usual Kabuki make-up.

"I thought it was a burglar." Said Temari and stormed out back to her room.

Kankurou yawned and gave Shikamaru a hand.

"You ok, man?"

"Yeah." Young man from Hidden Leaf said as he stood up. She didn't hold back at all. The place her fist landed on was hurting like hell, but Shikamaru still smiled.

'Worth it.' He thought.

* * *

The meeting was held first thing in the morning. Intel gathered by Sasuke Uchiha actually made Gaara frown. Somewhere in his mind he already started investigating this matter. The rest of the day went on as usual. Nothing new in the whole world has changed over this night. And yet, something was different. When their eyes met, she'd give him a hint of smile, and his heart would skip a beat. Their work faces will not crumble, but there's always more to it than a facial expression, isn't it?

"Have a safe travel back to Hidden Leaf. We'll keep you informed." Gaara said with a faint smile.

"Yes, we're glad to cooperate."

"Temari, guide our guest through the desert. It's not safe this time of the year."

"Roger."

They said their goodbyes.

About half an hour walk through the desert, Shikamaru decided to break the silence.

"Hey..."

"What?"

"Do you know what this all means?"

"What are you talking about?"

No shortcuts, huh.

Shikamaru lifted his head up, looking at the sky. There was not a single cloud.

Looking for right words was such a drag.

"That we are... kind of... sort of... ugh... together... now?"

She gave him a strange look and then busted into laughter.

"Could you come up with something less pathetic than that?"

He blushed.

"Sh-shut up." He scratched the back of his head. "It's just too troublesome..."

She was still giggling when he suddenly felt her touch against his palm.

"All right."

As they walked side by side, hand in hand Shikamaru for the first time in a while felt himself truly happy.

* * *

 **Author's note:** Do I hear "That's total OOC!", "That's not her!" and "You've totally ruined her!"? No? Great. Let me explain. I'm not the only one out there who wanted to see Temari cry. I'm not even close to be an exception from this rule.

Now this particular chapter was one of the first I wrote. The idea came to me after watching last series of Naruto Shippuuden. Especially the part featuring little Gaara. What hit me the most was Temari's reaction. I mean, Kankurou totally tried to communicate, and even bond a little. Temari on the other hand did nothing, said nothing! And when the father called her… she kind of wanted to stay. But she didn't. So that's where I saw this regret in her. You might not agree with me, though. Maybe, I'm thinking too much. But there's something I know for sure. Temari is a strong person. But it's not like you're born like this. To build up your character like that... it takes a lot of pain and unhappiness. People with no wounds will never possess such power. That's what I saw. So I think that this regret is real.

Although, the scene could play out differently. I can totally see Temari's reaction be just like Someya in Mekakushi No Kuni (chapter 14 page 16), look it up and you'll totally see what I mean! But, yeah. Opening up is one of the most important stages to build up a relationship. This chapter is one of the most important out there!

Words about strong people crying were so good though, I actually posted them on my fb, haha.

Hope you've enjoyed. Be back soon.


	6. Chapter 6: Exam

Moments

Chapter 6: Exam

Gaara was looking at the long list of names right in front of him.

"You did a great job." He said.

It took her whole six weeks to gather. With the information provided by Sasuke Uchiha bit by bit they've started to discover the leads needed. Leads connecting to the actual identities of the rebels. The list was long, but it wasn't complete.

"What are you going to do about them?" Temari asked. "We can't arrest them right now. Those evidence will hardly be enough."

"You're right." He turned around and looked in the window. He always did that when he was thinking.

"How's the preparations for the chuunin exam?" He asked eventually.

"It's going as planned."

She would never complain that tracking down the rebels as well as the preparation for the exam were hard to combine. She had to give up a large portion of her sleep, but it was fine this way.

"Hmm..." the starry sky was reflected in his eyes. "Can we use it? The exam, I mean. To lure them out."

"You already tried that before. Do you remember how it ended?"

He was her brother after all. He didn't listen at all.

"It won't be like the last time. But if five Kage are coming, they won't be able to miss the opportunity."

"It would be stupid of them."

"They won't have another chance. The best way to destroy our alliance would be during the exam. They will attack. It doesn't matter whether we think it's stupid or not."

"Should I send a message to the other villages?"

"Baki will handle that."

That was rather new.

"I need you and Kankurou to find their hideout."

"Any additional forces?"

"No, just the two of you."

Even with the list there was no telling who could be a spy. The most loyal of the Sand shinobi were not trusted at the moment. And sending two of his siblings like that...

"What if we fail?"

"You won't."

Gaara was looking right at her. It wasn't a plain belief in his eyes. He simply knew they will succeed.

"When they attack during the exam, we'll behead them. The three of us."

"The other Kage won't be pleased to share the seat with your clone."

He smiled lightly.

"They'll understand."

* * *

Two girls were waiting at the gates, as genin groups from Hidden Leaf reached the Main Gates. The Sand village didn't change at all. Huge walls around it to block disastrous winds, small stone houses that were of the same color as the sand around and the sky without a single cloud. The only thing that was different were the people meeting the guests at the gates.

Two girls - one with long hair, the other one with the sort hair - were waving at young genins as they've came closer. If Shikamaru wasn't mistaken those were the very same girls who adored young Kazekage the most.

"Welcome to the Hidden Sand village!" The short haired exclaimed.

"We're here to guide you to your rooms. The exam will start in two days; you'll have enough time to rest."

"Please, follow us."

The two of them never stopped talking. It was strange to see people this cheerful around Hidden Sand. And still something didn't feel right. Seeing those two taking up the job that was supposed to be done by Temari or at least Kankurou was wrong. Sand Siblings were up to something, and Shikamaru didn't like the feel of it.

"Hey, aren't you that guy?" Short haired girl moved closer to Shikamaru.

"Yup-yup, the intelligent guy!" Long haired followed.

The both of them were just a perfect example of the girls Shikamaru hated.

But since they've came closer...

"Are you on the exam team now?" He asked.

"Of course we're not. It's just Baki-san was too busy to meet you himself."

"Baki-san?" He couldn't remember who that was.

"Gaara-sama's teacher, he is responsible for the exam this year."

"Huh? What about Temari?" He shouldn't have asked that.

The look on their faces changed from cheerful to sly.

They started giggling.

"Temari and Kankurou are not in the village at the moment." A male voice interrupted their fun.

"How come?" That was rather strange especially in these circumstances. Shikamaru frowned.

"They're on a mission."

It was the man with half of his face covered, Shikamaru remembered seeing him during Sand's attack on the Leafs. So his name is Baki.

"Aren't they supposed to be with Gaara?"

"Kazekage is in his office."

None of this made any sense. But on the other hand storming Kage's office and demanding answers would prove itself useless as well. After all, Gaara wouldn't tell him a word.

'What are they planning to do?' He still couldn't let go of the thought that something is wrong.

* * *

So, the chuunin exam has probably started. Temari thought to herself as they've been hiding behind a huge dune of golden sand. If she calculated correctly, by this time the survival test would be over. Not being able to participate in it kind of made her feel sad.

"You sure it was here?" Kankurou whispered, although there was nobody around.

"Yes." It was hard enough to trace back their information leakages, but if most of them were concentrated in the village itself, a tiny minority would lead right here. The methods she had to use were not legal at all, but Gaara never cared about that. As long as it did the job.

"There's nothing here."

Temari didn't reply. She was listening. It was just as he said, there was nothing in there. Desert wind faced no hindrances, even those that were hidden from one's eyes. They could use the mirage to cover themselves, but the wind will reveal it anyways. He had no eyes to be deceived. So, if it's not genjutsu, there was only one place to hide in the middle of the desert.

"They're underground."

"Troublesome guys, aren't they?" Kankurou exhaled.

Hearing that word almost made Temari twitch.

"Prepare your puppets. We have to make sure."

Kankurou reached for the summoning scroll. The dolls he called out for looked like four giant spiders. A new invention he was actually proud of. As his work now included terrorists' annihilation, espionage had become an essential part of it. Those clay spiders were equipped with radio transmitters. People do drain inspiration from unexpected sources. These ones in particular was copied from Deidara's explosive spiders.

Kankurou put on the earphones and attached chakra strings to his puppets. The next moment they've started moving, crawling their way down in the sand.

Temari was left on guard.

They couldn't afford to make mistake this time around.

* * *

"You sure of it?" Gaara asked with a troubled look on his face.

The road back took longer, than Sand Siblings expected.

"It's underground. Connected all the way to the village. It must be in some of the basements, that's why we could never see them leaving the village." Kankurou replied. "My strings couldn't reach that far, but I'm pretty sure of it."

The second part of the chuunin exam was over two weeks ago. Genins stayed one more month in the village for additional training, before the third part begins. And yet, Sand Siblings have hardly thought about exam at all.

"We can safely suppose, that they have means of reaching the arena this way too." Temari added. "That's how they plan to attack."

"I see." Gaara turned around to look at the sky again. It was an hour before the sunset. "The place in the desert. You sure it's their head?"

"There's no doubt about it."

"Temari. Locate the underground passages to the arena and contact other villages' representative. Let them take the guards for us. We'll be moving out as soon as you're done with it."

"Roger."

"Kankurou, I'll need a full report on their hideout location and plan."

"All right."

* * *

If you expect the danger, it's easier to guard against it. It's the unknown that scares us the most. As long as you can see the next move, nothing will surprise you.

And right now Temari knew exactly what she was looking for.

There were six hidden underground passages around the arena, that probably were leading straight to their hideout. The whole network was built right under their noses and they haven't noticed a thing.

That though was making her angry.

"Temari-san!" The group of children surrounded her. They were this year's genin, chosen to participate in the exam. She remembered their faces. One of the girls had a tessen similar to the one Temari had.

"Did you make it to the finals?" She asked.

Kids started to talk, all at once, trying to explain everything that she'd missed. Nothing made sense at all, but it didn't matter.

They must come out victorious for the sake of these children.

"Temari-san, let me show you my new jutsu!"

* * *

Shikamaru was walking around the arena, then he heard voices.

He didn't know what exactly brought him to this place, maybe it was for the sake of reminiscing that time he took part in the exam himself. It wasn't his favorite memory at all, since starting from that day on, his life became troublesome as hell.

"... new jutsu!.."

Shikamaru came closer to look at the arena from the spectators' area. Bunch of kids gathered around a golden haired girl with a huge fan on her back. One of them went on to perform some jutsu. It was still raw, incomplete and kind of useless. He was too far away, but he expected Temari to use the very same words to give this kid a lecture.

'When did she come back?' He thought looking at the arena where show off section turned out into full-fledged training. The kids gave their all to bring her down, and yet she didn't even need to use her tessen to attack back. Plain taijutsu was enough.

One of the girls looked up and saw him.

"Look, it's Shikamaru-san."

Temari turned around and their eyes met.

'That might have worked. With a different opponent, though.' Shikamaru thought, as the kids tried to attack her when she's distracted. 'Too naive' that's what she probably thought, knocking each and every one of them down.

Even though they were defeated the kids still looked at her with the admiration. It was long past the time Sand Siblings were feared around Hidden Sand Village – they were heroes now.

"When did you come back?" Shikamaru asked when she climbed up the stairs to his place.

"Just a while ago." She said with that straightforward look on her face. "How's the exam?"

"Troublesome."

"Figured."

It was almost two months since they've last met, yet it felt like it was just yesterday.

"And your mission?"

"Same." She smiled.

"You're leaving again." It wasn't a question.

"There's something we need to take care of."

"Anything I can help you with?"

"You can help me to pass down a message to the other Kage."

"What is it?"

"This arena has six underground passages. On the day of the final match certain group of people are going to storm the place. Take them down before the audience noticed the ambush."

So that's what was actually going on.

"And where are you going then?"

"To take care of one annoying matter."

He knew she wouldn't say anything else. Well, in this case attacking headquarters would be the most logical course of events. Was it what she was doing up till now? She wouldn't say even if he asked.

"Those kids adore you." He said instead.

Temari laughed.

"They remind me of certain genins from Hidden Leaf. Just as spirited."

Those certain genins did not include Shikamaru for sure. Probably, she was talking about Naruto, Sasuke or Lee. Shikamaru was never among the spirited ones.

"You're actually good with them."

She gave him a strange look.

"I would expect you to use the word 'merciless' instead." She chuckled.

Well, that too.

"Promise me one thing." She said looking at the arena.

"Mm?"

"That nothing will happen to these kids during the exam."

He just nodded.

It was actually their turn to protect children. Just few years ago they were the protected ones. When did the tables change? Well, you can actually name quite a lot of the moments that lead to this. You don't become adult by just aging up or by acting like one, he went through a painful lesson to understand that. And yet, realizing yourself as an adult was different from understanding that you're not the kid anymore.

You're not a kid, when instead of being protected you are protecting. You're not the kid, when instead of being taught you are teaching. You realize you are not the kid anymore is when the kids are looking up to you instead of playing with you. And it's sure is tough when a little children start to call you 'uncle' or 'auntie'. Because that is the precise moment when you know, that you're not a kid anymore.

That's how he felt, watching young genin prepare for exam. Shikamaru looked at Temari.

Well, she never looked like a kid to him. Was it because she was older? Or maybe because she had two younger brothers? Or because she grew up without mother, so she had to learn to be one? He couldn't answer that one.

Shikamaru remembered the picture he saw on Kazekage's desk. The mother who decided to protect her child in her death. It's probably what any mother would want to do. Knowing that you're going to die for sure, the only thing you want for your kid - is to be protected. His teacher, Asuma, was like that too. To protect the future generations - that's what he left Shikamaru with.

The Third treated every member of the village as his own child. Does Temari feel the same about those children?

"Last time..." he said, still a bit confused about how exactly to put his thoughts into words. "When you told me about your mother. I was wondering... if it were you, would you do the same?"

She turned to him.

"Without hesitation." The smile on her face was almost like her mother's. "If I'm ever to become a mother, then I'd choose to protect my baby forever. Even in my death. That runs in the family, after all."

If all mothers were to die protecting their children, then who would protect them?

Who would protect her?

The desert wind was playing with her fringe. Golden strands would find their way back into her eyes, no matter how many times she'd try to toss them away.

With just that Shikamaru came closer and hugged her. There was nothing much left to say, except for:

"Be careful on your mission."

"Always." She said hugging him back.

* * *

In the middle of the desert stood a single man, holding two fingers on his right eye. He didn't need to look around, since his older brother and sister took out all the guards around. Enemy's main forces went to attack Hidden Sand village, there was almost nobody around. And yet, he was concentrating on what was happening below him. Panic, chaos, fear, as they knew what's going to happen.

He knelt down touching the scorching sand below his feet. And the desert will listen to him. It always does. The sand would wrap around the hidden tunnels, rooms, exits for thousands of miles from here. And then everything will collapse, burying people inside as if they've never existed. Cold sweat was dripping down his forehead. He suddenly felt like losing his ground.

"Hey, don't overdo it." It was his older sister grabbing his right arm.

"And why exactly did you needed us for?" And older brother grabbed his left arm.

They didn't let him fall.

"Let's go back. " He knew exactly, how everyone will react seeing his sand clone falling apart in the middle of the exam.

When the Sand Siblings returned, everything was over. With one move Gaara destroyed all their underground network. Those, who attacked the arena had nowhere to run. Most of the Hidden Sand villagers just felt enormous impact, as if an earthquake hit the desert. They had to make a convincing story for Kazekage leaving in the middle of exam, though. Other than that, the fight near the hidden doors remained a secret for those, who weren't actually fighting it.

* * *

 **Author's note:** This chapter is special. Because of the mere fact that I wrote it last. I guess I'm not a person, who writes in order, but rather driven by inspiration. All sot of scenes played out in my mind. And when I started this particular chapter I had no idea what it's gonna be about. So I let my imagination guide me instead. It's funny, how I can just see it all in my mind as if I'm watching a movie. Sometimes I'm surprised of what I'm writing myself, hehe.

This is a story chapter. Not a romantic one. Sorry about that. I kind of wanted to give them one month together… but this one scene is better than a month, after all. It's never about quantity! Quality that counts, isn't it? By the way, if you say something like "it's strange that Shikamaru doesn't remember everyone's names"... Well, to tell the truth I only learned Baki's name after reading Gaara Hiden... So I think remembering minor characters names for him will be too troublesome, hehe.

For those who wonder. It's not over yet! Most interesting is up ahead! Don't miss it!


	7. Chapter 7: Goodbye

Moments

Chapter 7: Goodbye

Time sure flies. It was hard to believe that chuunin exam ended six months ago. Even though operation to eliminate the rebels was a success, Hidden Sand had suffered a lot of casualties. Countless spies were found in the middle of every major branches of Sand's controlling offices. It took some more time to rebuild the whole system and regain total control. It took two months for Hidden Sand to recover. And three more to make sure that rebels won't cause problems again.

Although the recovery of the Hidden Sand village was good news, the fact that there might still be information leakages in the other countries was still an issue. Countless investigations continued long after the chuunin exam.

And no matter just how many times Kage would meet, exchange their intel, invite their special spies... there was nothing.

And nothing was the most suspicious.

Attack on Hidden Sand proved that other villages were involved, when bodies of Mist and Cloud shinobi were found among the attackers.

And yet, there was nothing.

And for today's meeting the situation was still the same.

Raikage was raging again. Nobody seemed to mind it by now.

No matter how hard they were looking and what means they've resorted to, everything was useless.

And that was frustrating.

The meeting would end up fruitless again. And everyone here already knew that.

"We haven't found anything in six months." Mizukage started the sentence everyone was thinking by now. "Maybe it's because there's nothing to look for."

"You're too naive, Mizukage!" Raikage was shouting.

"What if it is actually safe to assume that Kazekage eliminated their major forces? And all we doing now is just chasing our tales."

"I would agree with Mizukage on this point." Old Tsuchikage said. "Looking further would be just a waste of our time."

"You're growing old and lazy, Oonoki!" Raikage clenched his fist.

"I believe it's just an act." Kazekage raised his voice. "They let us notice them. And tracking them was almost impossible even when we knew what to expect. I believe it's a part of a bigger plan."

"I would agree with Kazekage." Kakashi raised his voice. "It's a part of a plan. I suggest we play along. And make an appearance that we believed them."

"That makes sense." Mizukage added. "If we want to lure them out, we have to be smarter about it."

"How about we seize all investigations?" Tsuchikage gave a sly smirk. "And exchange our special spies? This way whatever happens in one village can safely be known by an outsider. Chances are that we won't be able to rely on our usual means of communication again if anything were to happen to any village."

"Good thinking." Hokage said.

Kazekage nodded.

"Do we have any objections?"

"Not from me." Mizukage raised her hands. "Raikage?"

"I guess this will do for the time being."

"That means I'm sending Sasuke Uchiha to Hidden Sand."

Gaara agreed.

"We'll be sending..."

* * *

It was only after a month since the last Kage meeting when Hidden Sand sent a messenger. Something that might have been of a great importance was excavated from rebels' hideout.

In the past six month Shikamaru already used to see the Sand Siblings around. Was it investigation after exam, scheduled Kage meetings or Union gathering, the chances would just present themselves. When all five Hidden Villages were collaborating this close you tend to forget about the distance.

And yet this last month reminded him of it.

For the first time after actually being this close, the distance felt devastating.

"This doesn't look like much." He had to admit eventually. The important discovery was just a piece of embroidered cloth.

"We though so too, at first. But if you look closer over here..." Temari leaned forward to show almost invisible silver line separating cloth in two. "Shikamaru, are you listening!?"

Well, he wasn't. He hurried to look at the 'discovery' instead of Temari's face.

'You're too close.' He thought to himself, trying to clear his mind.

"What does it remind you of?" She asked again.

Silver line separated the cloth in half. But if you actually look closer, it wasn't just two parts, right over the torn edge the line split. This particular piece gave a hint that there should be more.

"It looks like a map."

"Exactly."

"Did you find anything else?"

"No, but we're still looking."

"So you want Leaf to investigate this?"

"Unfortunately the better half of our experts were among the rebels. And there's no time to train new ones. We have no other choice but to rely on you this time."

"I'll see what we can do."

She nodded.

"When are you going back?"

She looked outside the window. It was already dark.

"Tomorrow morning."

"Any plans for the evening?"

She looked at him and smiled.

"Not yet."

Shikamaru smiled back and stood up.

* * *

There weren't many places to go at this hour, but it didn't really matter as long as there still was some time left before she had to leave.

"Leaf's wind sure feels different."

Night breeze was gently blowing on the top of Hokage Rock. From up here village looked really small. It was hard to believe that those were actually places for people to live. Tiny pedestrians looked more like ants.

Wind was playing with Temari's hair as she sat down on the very edge.

"So gentle." She said with a faint smile. "I like it."

"Is that so?" Shikamaru didn't really care about the wind. Ever since she arrived today, he couldn't take his eyes off her. Nothing really changed since the last time they've met. It was only the way Shikamaru was looking that was different. Somehow minor details about her seemed important to him now. A golden strand behind her ear, her neck half covered by a collar, her fringe messed up by the wind. Everything seemed way too important. "You shouldn't sit there."

"I won't fall."

Of course, she won't.

But he still stretched his hand to her.

Temari raised her eyebrows as if asking 'Really?'. Shikamaru turned his eyes away.

Her smile when she took his hand was a bit different.

It was a second later, when he realized just what it meant.

One swift movement and he suddenly lost his ground. One more second and he fell right into the grass. Temari was on top of him looking right into his eyes.

'Too close!'

"You..." she started quietly. Shikamaru felt his face turning red. "...lack training!"

"Ha?"

She pushed herself away on the grass beside him.

"Seriously, you could have totally see through that move." She rose on her elbows to see his face. "Office job is no excuse to skip training."

He sighted.

"What a drag..."

Temari stayed herself till the end. Not even being this close could faze her out. He was looking at her again, this time paying attention to the grace of her movements and body lines behind her clothes. Suddenly plan of revenge came to his mind.

"Temari." He was looking her straight into the eyes. "You look beautiful tonight."

It worked. She lost her concentration, even if it was for a split second. Her eyes widened and cheeks went pink. No matter how fast she took back control over her emotions, that second was enough to make it too obvious to deny.

"See?" Shikamaru said. "You lack training too."

She burst into laughter.

"You're so cute. I love you!"

Shikamaru could hardly believe what he just heard. And yet, there was nobody else, just the two of them lying in the grass, a starry sky above and whole Leaf village below. And she actually told that she loved him. That couldn't be true.

"Do you mean that?" Shikamaru's heart was beating like crazy, he could hardly hear his own voice.

She stopped laughing. It was her usual serious face again, when she looked at him.

"Shikamaru, do you even know me? When do I say things I don't mean?"

That was true. Even though a normal girl would shy away and put her confession into more gentle words. Well, Temari wasn't a "normal girl" from the start, and he actually preferred it this way. Being with a normal girl would be so goddamn boring, and Shikamaru already gave up on his average life dream. A ninja should see the underneath of underneath. Despite the tone of her voice Shikamaru already knew what was behind the protective facade and sarcastic words. There was no better or "normal" way of saying it, not for Temari. And Shikamaru felt extremely happy to the point when his heart was ready to burst out from his chest.

One swift movement and he was on top of her. Just an arm length distance, but still closer than ever.

"Well? What is my answer?" She demanded. You wouldn't expect her to be shy all of sudden.

"An answer, huh?"

He rolled this word over his tongue, trying to put his own feelings into words.

"Don't even think to telling me it's too troublesome. I'll kill you."

He couldn't stop himself from smiling.

"Now THAT would be too troublesome."

She giggled.

Her mood changed in an instant again. From calm to fury, from serious to laughter. That's who Temari was. She didn't just control the wind, she was the wind: a fierce gale, a gentle breeze, a steady blow that was pushing forward. It was all her, and no matter how unpredictable it is, she was never fake. That was what he loved the most about her.

"You better don't go back on that words." His voice sounded unexpectedly serious. "Because I'm not letting you go. Ever."

That's when you expect a girl blush all over. And yet, Temari's eyes narrowed and a smile disappeared.

"Wait a minute. Out of the two of us, you are the one who is most likely to back out, just because it's going to be too troublesome."

That... was true.

"Not this time. I won't."

"Why? Because looking for another girl will be too troublesome?"

"Nah," he moved closer and whispered right in her ear: "Because I love you too."

With just that her defenses are down. Even though the words were expected, even though she demanded it, even though she probably knew all along, she still wasn't prepared to hear it like that. Well, it was more likely for him to say something like "what a drag" to a confession, and yet...

She looked startled - eyes widened, and a little blush on her cheeks. She probably swallowed all the words prepared to fly out from her slightly opened lips. Shikamaru gently touched her face. At that moment he was glad that she would never show this expression to the world. She was way too stunning and Shikamaru was ready to kill anyone else who would see it. That particular face of hers belonged to him only.

With just that he kissed her.

Another thing that felt different.

The distance between them was close to zero. And yet, it wasn't enough.

'Closer!'

One single thought was raging through his mind.

Just lips were not enough. His kisses would move down her neck to the tiny bit of skin unprotected by clothes.

Clothes...

Suddenly he felt that they were in his way.

That was the moment he realized he'd lost control.

"Sorry... I..." his voice sounded rusty. It took him a moment to slow his breathing.

"It's... okay..." she replied in small voice. She bit her lip, probably to hold back some words she would definitely regret. Her cheeks were bright red, her hair and thoughts completely messed up.

"We should probably head back." He stood up. "It's already late and you have to leave early in the morning."

"Yeah," she too tried to escape the awkward moment. And yet Shikamaru caught himself staring at her neck again and then lower, until he saw a little red spot on her collarbone.

'Oh, God! What the hell am I doing?!'

Temari rose to her feet too, and they started walking in complete silence putting enough space between each other. And even though the distance was killing both of them, a single touch would make them loose control again.

It was a very long walk back to her hotel room, with the hearts beating louder that the words could ever sound. It was awkward, but it wasn't silence at all.

The road ended before they've even noticed. The way up the stairs to the room, and here again there was silence instead of goodbyes, the distance closing in the narrow hallway. The door was opened and yet it nobody said a word.

"Well, I'll be off." Shikamaru broke the silence. "Have good night."

He didn't move an inch.

"Yeah. You too." Temari replied.

"You should go in."

"You should go out."

They've remained still.

"Then, I'm going." This time he gathered all his will to make one little step towards the stairs.

He was the one to break the silence. But it was her to break the distance. Before she even realized what exactly she was doing, Temari grabbed his arm.

"Don't."

"What are you doing?"

"I don't know. I just don't feel like saying goodbye yet."

All his will was not enough to hold back now. He turned around to look at her face all flustered and confused. A certainly a new look on her, but it still was tempting.

Their lips will meet again in passionate and greedy kiss. He would lift her up, like she weighted nothing and a hotel door will close behind his back. Then there will be a long struggle with clothes, until the distance will cease to exist.

* * *

Shikamaru woke up thinking it was a dream. And yet reality claimed otherwise. She was still here, sleeping silently in his arms, her golden hair scattered across the pillow. Her sweet flowerish smell surrounded him, making it impossible to resist the temptation of continuing what was started previous night. He remembered her touch, her smell, her voice. And it was enough to make him long for more this very second.

"Good morning." She murmured in sleepy voice.

He pulled her closer and buried his face in her hair. Sweet smell became stronger.

"Yeah."

It was too beautiful for reality.

"Temari," he called. "Why did you do that?"

"What? You didn't like it?"

"It's not about that. It's just... I have no idea how I'm supposed to let you go now..."

She didn't know either.

"I'll be back before you know it." She said eventually.

"That's a lie."

She didn't argue with that.

"I'm still here, in case you didn't notice." She moved away to meet his eyes.

Just like that she would bring him back to reality. Like she always did with those serious eyes staring right in his soul.

"Yeah, you are..."

When he kissed her, she was smiling.

* * *

Hidden Leaf village was just waking up when they've reached Main Gates.

And yet Shikamaru wasn't ready to let go of her hand.

"When's going to be next time?" He asked.

"I don't know. Knowing the state of the world we live in, something will probably come up pretty soon. There's always a reason for me to visit the Leaf. Don't worry. It won't be too long."

At this point, even the other second would be too long. But he only replied with simple:

"Yeah."

"It's time." She was the first one to let go.

"Be careful."

"You don't need to say that."

Steps. She was walking away confidently as usual. Yet, each other step was somehow smaller than the previous.

Eventually Temari stopped for a split second, and the next moment she was running back. It was a long desperate kiss, and when she let go, there was a glimpse of regret in her eyes.

"These goodbyes are getting harder, eh?" She whispered. And next moment pushed herself away. "I'm off."

She ran off before she could change her mind.

"Take care."

It was hard enough to let go. But it was probably even harder to leave. If it was any normal girl, she would probably cry and make a scene. It would probably be ugly and troublesome. And yet he still couldn't say he'd prefer it this way. At this point, he'd preferred for her to stay.

"You're lucky guy." It was the same guy on guard duty. "She's a real beauty."

"It's not about the looks, you know." Shikamaru said and walked back home.

* * *

He tried to be quiet about it, but...

"Who is she?"

Talking about troublesome. It was his mom.

"What are you talking about?"

"The girl you've spent the night with. Who is she?"

His mom had unusually thrilled expression on her face.

"I was in the office..."

"Don't try to lie to me! I saw you two together yesterday!"

She wasn't lying. And she was really excited about that too.

Shikamaru sighted.

"Hey, mom... love is troublesome, isn't it?"

Now she was surprised. And then her expression softened.

"You really love her, don't you?"

He hesitated a moment, but then gave another sight.

"Yeah."

"Then what's wrong?"

It was the first time when they've talked about it. And first time they've really talked since he took the job in Hokage's office. But somehow he felt a lot closer to her, ever since his father died.

"She's from Hidden Sand. And I have no idea when she's coming back."

"How about inviting her here next time?"

Shikamaru turned to his mom surprised.

"Are you sure? I mean, wouldn't you normally go crazy about stuff like that."

"Well, it's my first time seeing you this desperate about a girl. I remember you used to say that women are too troublesome to deal with. "

Shikamaru scratched his nose to hide embarrassment.

"She's not the rest of them." He said and rushed to his room.

"Don't forget to invite her here next time! I'm really looking forward to it."

When he closed the door and fell on his bed face down, he only wished for another meeting to come around sooner.

* * *

Hidden Sand village was slowly going to sleep. The balcony in Kazekage's residence wasn't as high above as Hokage Rock, but people still seemed tiny. Temari was looking at the sun setting down. It was already cold outside, enough to make anyone shiver. The days here, in Hidden Sand, were always shorter.

"What's wrong, sister?"

He probably just came back from his office, overloaded by papers as usual. The job of a Kage was indeed honorable, and yet, he hardly had any free time. For Gaara to come home at all was already rare.

He never called her 'sister' in the office. But at home it was different.

"What makes you think anything is wrong at all?"

"You seem sad."

"That's not true."

"You seem sad every time you come back from Hidden Leaf." He tilted his head. "But every time you leave, you seem happier."

As observant as always.

"You're thinking too much about it, Gaara." She said with a smile. "I just feel trapped spending all the time in one place. So I'm actually happy to travel around. That's it."

He was looking at her in silence.

"I think, you are lying, sister."

"Why?"

"Because you wouldn't be crying if it was true."

"I'm not crying." Temari was surprised.

"On the inside."

Maybe, it was wrong of her to treat him as a child. Even though sometimes he looked like adorable little animal to her, he was still Sand's Kazekage - a man grown. She never noticed the fact, that he was taller than her already. Her baby brother had actually grown up.

"It's nothing, really." She gave up.

"Tell me." He came closer.

He wanted to help from the bottom of his heart. 'So cute!' She thought seeing determined look on his face.

"There's someone... special to me in the Leaf." She said waiting for his reaction.

"Special?"

"Of course, you and Kankurou are special to me as well. But that man... he's different."

Now he understood.

"Special... means love?"

"Yes. Different from a family or friends. That kind of love when you want to spend your whole life with one person."

He though it over carefully.

"I... don't really understand that kind of love." He said.

"I know. That's why I told you - it's nothing."

"If you love that person, it's not nothing." He turned around to face her. "Sister, I want you to be happy."

That startled her for a while.

"I am happy."

"Not like that." He paused. "You've always given up your own happiness for us. Sacrificing your life for us. Neither me, nor Kankurou will ever be able to pay you back for everything you've abandoned for our sakes. That's why I want to help you. I want to make you happy."

He looked so serious at that moment.

"I am happy, silly." She smiled again. "Look at you talking like a real adult. I might get the idea that you don't need me to take care of you anymore."

"I will always need you, sister." He smiled back. "But I don't want to rob you of your happiness anymore."

"It's not that simple."

"I'll do whatever is in my powers."

"Then... don't tell Kankurou about this for a while. Or he will go crazy." She laughed. "I might have spoiled both of you too much."

"I understand." He didn't know what facial expression to show.

'Like hell he'd grown up!'

* * *

 **Author's note:** Told you this story is M rated, haha.

This chapter was extremely hard to write. Not the end, though. I wonder when did I stop writing innocent vanilla like stories, where everything was romantic enough even without kissing and stuff… Those times are over, seeing the last scenes coming out so naturally now… Do the chapter's name suggest a break up scene? I kind of hoped it would. I love misleading titles, hehe.

The hard part was the beginning. Since everything after "I love you" I wrote weeks ago, I needed some story to connect it to the main plot. It was only after Kage meeting was over that I've realized something. They have to be alone for the part! And for the goodbye scene. I've messed up! It took me half day suffering to come up with decent connection. Another half I was researching whether there is grass on top of Hokage Rock. I'm hopeless fool, but I'm satisfied with the chapter.

Hope you too!


	8. Chapter 8: Ring

Moments

Chapter 8: Ring

It was still early in the morning. Hidden Leaf village was starting to wake up from its slumber, every day in a usual pattern. The morning silence slowly dissolved and the air was filling up with noises. It was the start of a new day for thousands of villagers around, and yet for two certain people, it meant the end of everything.

Night was the only time they could really be together.

The days were usually occupied by work none of them could give up no matter what. Countless meetings, discussions, negotiations were part of their daily routine each and every time she visited. But nights were different.

And one of those nights was almost over.

They were in his favorite spot, on one of the rooftops where he usually would go to observe clouds. Even though the middle of the night wasn't the best time for it, they still would often come here to meet the sunrise. Just because it would be worthless to lose a little time left to sleep.

Because by the time the village will fully wake up, she'll have to leave again.

Shikamaru was lying down head on Temari's lap. He felt strangely addicted to this position, sometimes he thought he could spend the whole day just like this. Nobody will ever let him to do that, though.

His hair was undone and Temari's fingers were going through it as Shikamaru pretended to sleep. Her gentle touch against his scalp felt way too relaxing to keep up the act, but he just couldn't afford to fall asleep.

He was looking at her instead. It was a year and a half since he asked her out on their first date. It might seem like a long time, but their meetings were still very rare and short, mostly involving work. And yet, for the past year he learned more about her than during those five years after their first meeting. 'Was it really that long?' He asked himself. He could tell it easily now, when she was angry or upset, when she was happy or concentrated, when she was serious or teasing. The problem was - the more he knew, the harder it was to let go. Each goodbye was more painful than the previous, to the point he didn't want to say it ever again.

"How much is left?" He asked.

"About forty minutes."

"Ugh..." he really hated it.

"What is it?"

"Nothing..."

"Just say it already." Her voice sounded a little irritated.

"I can't."

That would sound just too selfish and demanding.

"Why?"

"I can't possibly say something like 'don't go' now can I?"

Her hand stopped.

"No, you can't."

"I don't want you to go." He still said it.

"I don't want to go either." She said. One could say it was her usual voice, but Shikamaru could now pick up the difference. She sounded sad.

"But, you'll still go?"

"Yeah."

It's not that he expected another answer. She wasn't the type to give up everything just for that. It never mattered what she herself wanted to do, she'll always go with what she must do. That was just a part of her character that Shikamaru liked.

That's why it hurts like hell to say goodbye.

A sudden idea came to his mind. It was crazy, and Shikamaru was the least person who would be expected to come up with it. And yet, it suddenly made sense.

Shikamaru sat up and looked her right into the eyes.

'What kind of face will she make now?'

"Temari," he said. "Marry me."

"Eh?" She was too shocked to say anything else.

"Look, I know I was the one who said stuff like marriage is too troublesome and that I hate it. But compared to that, I hate saying goodbye to you thousands times more."

There was a war going. A full-fledged war inside of her head between her reasons and inner girly side.

"Are you... sure?" She averted her eyes. It seems like girly side has won. "As troublesome as I am?.."

"It would be pointless if it's not you."

He didn't try to sound like a hero from a romance book. That's just how he felt. After all, marrying normal average girl just won't be challenging enough, like playing Shogi game with a six-year-old. Too easy and too boring. Temari on the other hand was not just a girl, she was a partner, a lover, a backup, a friend, and whole lot of support. More that he would ever expected to have. That's why the thought of marrying her didn't sound as crazy as he thought it would. It came out naturally, and somehow it made a lot of sense.

At this point of time, Shikamaru knew just how much he would give up to wake up next to her every morning, to see her smile every day and touch her skin every night. For that he wouldn't mind marrying. No matter how troublesome it would end up to be.

"So? What will your answer be?" He gently touched her cheek. "Will you marry me?"

He saw just how much her lips were trembling. For a moment. Temari bit her lip to recover control over her emotions.

And... she failed.

She closed her eyes.

"Maybe." She said, trying to copy her usual tone of voice. "Maybe I will."

But she couldn't hold back her smile after all. As radiant as ever it was filled with pure happiness.

His heart was beating louder than the noises of the village. He didn't know how to react just yet. But still he had a feeling that he'd missed something.

"How long now?" He demanded.

"About half an hour."

"Come with me for a while." Another crazy idea crossed his mind, as he grabbed Temari's hand.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

The shop was closed. Well, that wouldn't be surprising considering the hour, but that didn't shatter Shikamaru's determination. He knocked as hard as he could.

The owner appeared only couple of minutes later. He was still in his pajamas.

"Open your store." Shikamaru demanded copying Temari's tone of voice. "Hokage's orders."

Owner seemed to be more shocked than scared.

"Sir, right now the destiny of an important alliance between Hidden Leaf and Hidden Sand lies on your shoulders. Please, there's not much time left."

That did the job. The old shop owner felt himself proud no matter how funny he looked in his pajamas. He let them in.

Shikamaru had never been to jewelry store. The variety was confusing.

"Please show me engagement rings."

The owner gave him a strange look and giggled, as he showed what Shikamaru asked for.

"It's your choice now."

"That one." She didn't hesitate one bit, and from her looks she was amusing herself just as much as the shop owner.

The ring she chose was a plain strap of silver, no stones or decorations. Somehow obvious, as she wasn't the type to wear jewelries, so the ring she picked would be the one to get in her way the least. 'That's just so Temari,' Shikamaru smiled.

"With this you officially are..." he put the ring on her finger. "Nara's bride."

* * *

"There's going to be a lot of troublesome business to take care of from now on." She said as they've approached the Main Gates.

"Nothing you can't handle."

"Well, Gaara promised to help. Not sure about Kankurou. He doesn't know a thing yet."

"Elders wouldn't let a chance like that slip away. That would secure peace treaty between our villages better than any agreement."

"There's going to be a lot of politics involved."

"What a drag..."

"Giving up already?"

"Not a chance."

The guy on a guard duty was weeping happily.

"I'm so happy for you guys." He mumbled.

Shikamaru almost forgot about this guy. Even though he happened to be here every single time.

'Doesn't he have anything else to do?' Shikamaru wondered. 'How troublesome…'

* * *

"Mom, you here?" Shikamaru called when he entered the house.

"What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be working right now?" His mom was in the kitchen.

"That can wait. I need to talk to you first."

"What is it?" She was irritated a moment ago, but now she seemed worried.

"Sit down first."

"What happened?"

"Please, sit down first. There's nothing to worry about, really."

She listened to him.

"Look, do you remember that girlfriend talk from a while ago?"

"Don't tell me you broke up!"

"That's not it... it's opposite, actually..." even though he wanted his mom to be the first one to know, except for the shop owner, of course, but it was harder than Shikamaru expected. "We're kind of... sort of... well..." he sighted. "Mom, I'm getting married."

She looked a lot more surprised than Temari did.

It took her a while to process this idea.

"For real?"

"Yeah."

"You of all people?.." he had the feeling that he'd get that line a lot.

"Yeah."

"Oh, my..." she exclaimed and tears started to flow down her cheeks. "Oh, my! I'm so happy for you!" She stood up and hugged him. "I'm so happy for you, Shikamaru."

"Yeah... thanks, mom..."

They stood like that for a while. When she raised her hear, her eyes were glowing and she had a broad smile on her face.

"So... when do I get to meet her family?"

"About that... next Kage meeting, I guess?"

"Why?"

"Well, her brother is Kazekage after all..." did he forget to mention that detail later?

"Oh, my..."

* * *

She opened the door to Kazekage's office without knocking as usual. One day she hoped to find him together with a girl here. But there was only Kankurou with another bunch of paper reports.

Temari took a deep breath.

"Gaara, I need to talk to you."

"Is it urgent? Any news from the Leaf?"

"No, it not about that. I just need your help on one personal matter."

"Oh..."

"What kind of personal matter are you talking about?" Kankurou seemed confused.

'Oh, yeah. He still doesn't know...'

"Wait a minute... what is that?" He grabbed her wrist to look closely at a simple silver ring. "You never wear jewelry."

His tone of voice was kind of accusing. Temari sighted. Gaara's eyes on the other hand were glowing. It didn't take him long to figure out.

"Is it about that time?"

"Yeah. Can you talk to the elders?"

Gaara nodded. "I'll make them agree."

"What is this talk all about?" Kankurou started to realize. "Since when do you even have a boyfriend?!"

"Do you remember that time on the balcony?"

"You mean THAT guy?!" Pure shock was radiating even through the makeup.

Temari nodded.

"And you knew about this?!"

Gaara nodded.

"And you are ok with that?"

Kazekage nodded again.

"What the hell..." he looked frustrated. "Well, I'm not! Temari belongs to the Hidden Sand! I'm not about to hand her to the Leafs!"

"That's the decision she made." Gaara said calmly. "It's a good way to strengthen our alliance."

"Rather to make her a walking target!"

"Times are different..."

"You just don't get it..."

"Kankurou." Temari finally said. "Stop it. I know everything you want to say. And I'm fine with it."

"But... Temari belongs to us..."

"I'll still be."

"No way... going off like that and marrying some guy from the Leaf..." he was pouting.

"Then how about you both of you get marry and give birth to the Kazekage bloodline heirs?" Her voice was strict, just like their father's. "Then I'll stop worrying about the future of our family."

Gaara and Kankurou exchanged understanding looks.

"So, we'll have a wedding to plan. Let's make it as extravagant as possible..." her middle brother said, completely recovering from the shock.

"You guys..."

* * *

"And that all for their report."

"Hmmm..." Kakashi hardly even listened. "Good to know."

"If that's all..."

"Shikamaru." Hokage sighted. "The letter from the Hidden Sand came today. They say that Elders are willing to cooperate and want to discuss this matter personally with the both of you. Next Wednesday."

"Hold on... but the Leaf Elders appointed the meeting on the same day."

Kakashi nodded.

"Those old geezers are way too troublesome..."

"That's why, we'll hold a meeting with the both of them. Families, Kage and the elders. So they can actually bargain among themselves."

"Is it really a good idea?"

"Probably not, but we won't be able to handle this over the letters. Let them fight."

Shikamaru knew that getting married will be troublesome. But not this troublesome...

"What a drag..."

* * *

Elders from Hidden Sand and Hidden Leaf were glaring at each other as if they were prepared to fight a battle on a greater scale than even The Fourth Shinobi World War.

It was politics.

'What did she find in this guy?' Asked himself Kankurou glaring at his future brother in law.

'She's so pretty! I always wanted a girl!' Yoshino was looking at the future bride.

'This is kind of embarrassing.' Temari felt herself as a matter of bargain.

'What a drag...' Shikamaru didn't like the idea of this meeting at all.

'I must not fail!' Gaara didn't completely understand this feeling, but it must have been something similar to Lee's fighting spirit.

'Ah, youth...' though Kakashi trying not to fall asleep.

* * *

Bonus!

Somewhere in the afterlife.

"Kyaaaaa! I knew you would find your prince!" Karura's eyes were glowing.

"I wonder, when Gaara-sama is going to marry?" Yashamaru shared his sister's enthusiasm.

"I'll have to approve of her first!" Karura stubbornly said. Somehow everyone believed that kids inherited this feature of character from the fourth Kazekage.

"Temari..." Rasa was utterly shocked. He didn't expect that one day his daughter will get married. His only daughter.

"So, we'll be joining families, I guess!" Shikaku wrapped his arm around former Kazekage's shoulders.

'Way to go, Shikamaru! I knew she was the right one for you.' He thought.

* * *

 **Author's note:** I almost forgot to add guard duty guy to this chapter . Shame on me! If somebody asks me, where am I in this story, that would be him! He kind of became important, haha. I kind of wanted Kankurou to have more of sister complex, but I'm still glad how things worked out in the end. Marriage is scary for guys, haha.

About the bonus part… Oh, my. I couldn't help it! After writing everyone's thoughts, my imagination went wild, and added dead family members. But they're so cute… I don't believe in the perfect characters. And I don't believe that Karura was perfect either. You need guts to be with a man like Rasa. That's why I want her to be strong and stubborn as well. In disguise, though, haha.

This chapter came out so naturally, I myself couldn't believe it. Even though I wanted to go with a little bit more of a girly side for Temari's reaction. But then again… No matter how many times I went through it, I got this feeling "This is not her!" Now I'm perfectly satisfied. Hehe.

Hope you've enjoyed it. My favorite part is coming next chapter! Don't miss it!


	9. Chapter 8: Ring EXTRA

Moments

Chapter 8: Ring. EXTRA

* * *

Author's note: I had absolutely no intention to write this. It was never my plan. But then again I went through the last chapter, felt that it's a little bit incomplete, and then wrote this piece. In my files, I'll just add it to the eighth chapter. But since I've posted it here before even having an idea that I would end up writing this... This is going to be a little extra for Chapter 8. Enjoy!

* * *

The man sitting across from Shikamaru wasn't happy.

Although, Kankurou's mood could hardly be described by just that one word. The groom could see irritation, jealousy, suspicion and even whole lot of hate. But one thing was true though. His future brother in law was not happy at all.

These meetings continued for months with hardly any progress at all. Elders insisted that both of the countries' traditions must be followed for the ceremony and the banquet later. As it turned out, it was easier said than done, especially when they'd come up with new stupid rules just to piss off the other side and ruin their preparations. With each side being this stubborn it was nearly impossible to reach compromise.

Coming this far after seven whole months was already a relief. The worst part about all this was the fact, that Elders will never send Temari to do the negotiations. They hardly let her out of the village after the engagement was announced. The most reasonable messenger turned out to be Baki. Gaara's fan girls were annoying, but still bearable. The worst were the meetings with Kankurou. The middle brother didn't like him, that much Shikamaru could tell from that glare. Unlike Temari, who will never let her own feelings show in times like this, Kankurou didn't seem professional enough for this job.

"So, with this everything's decided." Future brother in law collected all the papers from the table. "Are Leaf's Elders satisfied with this?"

"They're not, but they'll have no other choice but to cooperate." Shikamaru sighted. He spent whole week fighting with them for another minor detail. "What about the Sand?"

"At this point they won't dare to." Kankurou smirked. "Another tiny complain from them and Temari will go on killing rampage."

Shikamaru could only meet her during official meetings for the Union or even five Kage. Investigations on Sand's rebels matter still continued, although every lead they tried to follow was just another dead-end. For the political matters Elders of the Sand couldn't keep Temari in the village. But yet again just one word about the wedding would make her furious. Especially when she learned that during their wedding preparations both Ino and Sakura got engaged and then married, with Sasuke Uchiha still being in Hidden Sand as a spy.

And now, finally, all the preparations were over.

"So it's final now. The ceremony will be in two months' time." Kankurou continued with a sour look on his face.

Two months? Sounds like an eternity.

"What a drag..."

"Why don't you call it off?"

"Ha?!"

"The wedding. Call it off." Kankurou finally let his sour feelings out.

"I won't." Definitely not after all preparations were over!

"But why? Why Temari? I mean, you've hardly got any time together. How did this even happen?"

Shikamaru scratched the back of his head.

"I don't know. It kind of feels like it has always been this way from the start."

Kankurou stared at him with a grumpy look on his face for another minute. And then sighted.

"So that's how it is. It can't be helped then."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Kankurou sighted again.

"Since she said exact same words... I'll let it go." He wasn't happy about this either. "For now."

"Yeah."

"But that doesn't mean that I'm accepting you, or anything. Got it?"

"Yeah."

"Now listen, if you ever..." Kankurou stopped in the middle of sentence and smirked again. "Ok, I won't tell you something like "if you ever hurt my sister, I'll kill you", because I'm pretty sure she's capable of doing it herself." Well, that was true. "But if we get to know that she's not happy here, we're taking her back. Got it?"

"Yeah."

"And don't you ever call me brother, got it?"

Looking at him right now reminded Shikamaru of the first time he met Sand Siblings. That time he kind of thought, that among two brothers Kankurou was probably more reasonable one, since little Gaara was scary like hell. But as the things are now, Shikamaru would rather prefer working with Kazekage himself.

"Yeah."

* * *

Shikamaru could hardly remember what had actually happened during the wedding itself. In the end it felt more of a competition between two villages, rather than actual wedding. Mismatched dresses, mismatched guests, mismatched traditions, mismatched food and mismatched presents made the whole thing way too pompous, especially for the newlyweds. The only reason why Shikamaru had endured it all was Tamari's hand clinging on to him. This whole mess was probably even worse for her. The dress made of long single piece of silk, that Hidden Sand tradition requires her to wear, was hardly comfortable itself, but combined with thousands of golden accessories it also seemed way too heavy for a girl to wear. That was another custom: the wealthier the family, the more gold on a bride, the finer is the silk of her dress, and the longer is the cloth it's made from. Being born into Kazekage bloodline meant being the wealthiest of them all. The dress hardly allowed her to breathe, let alone walk or eat. For Temari, who always preferred comfortable clothes, it was a pure torture to sit through the whole ceremony.

That's why Shikamaru never let go. 'If this is your hell, then the least I can do, is to stay in it with you.' He thought.

They've never really talked that whole day, until the wedding night, when the two of them were finally left alone.

"Is it over now?" She exhaled in relief.

"Yeah." Among all troublesome days he had in his life this one outranked them all.  
When all loud noises and annoying traditions were left far away from here, Shikamaru for the first time really saw his bride. White silk and gold actually looked very good on her, while green emeralds complimented her eyes. No matter how uncomfortable it might be, the dress was beautiful.

By the way, speaking of...

"How can you even walk in this dress?" He asked.

"I've had training." Temari was absolutely serious when she said that.

Of course she did. He smiled, trying to imagine wedding dress walk practice.

The wedding... is actually over. With all the formalities and ceremonies, he kind of forgot one important detail...

"Hey... we're actually married now." Shikamaru said.

"After all this time and that whole mess... it's kind of hard to believe, huh?" Temari sounded a bit surprised too.

"Yeah."

He looked at her, still trying to process this idea. The wedding, traditions, white dress... no matter how he looked at it, nothing has changed. Except for one minor detail. She doesn't have to leave anymore.

With this though he pulled her closer, trying to embrace her. All the gold Temari was wearing suddenly made this really uncomfortable.

Shikamaru looked down on her wedding gown.

"How do you take this thing off?"

She raised her eyes to meet his, and with the most serious expression she was capable of, Temari said:

"I have absolutely no idea."

Next moment they were laughing.


	10. Chapter 9: Pursue

Moments

Chapter 9: Pursue

A hawk came this morning. It didn't belong to any hidden village, or any other shinobi nation. It was pitch black, like the man who sent it.

It went straight to Shikamaru's office, ignoring any other destination available in the Leaf. As soon as the man took the scroll the hawk was carrying, it flew away back to its master.

It brought pitch black news on a pitch black wings from a pitch black man.

Shikamaru frowned as he read through the letter.

And then went straight to Hokage's office.

* * *

"It's happening again?" Kakashi seemed surprised.

"According to Sasuke, it's not like the previous time. Communication is completely blocked. Neither radio nor a hawk can reach Hidden Sand at the moment."

"What about Sai's jutsu?"

"The scrolls he sent are hunted down as well."

"What about the other villages?"

"As far, as we can tell – there's no sign of any interference."

"This is bad." Kakashi sighted. "I bet you know what that means already."

"Yes." Shikamaru looked down at the papers in his hands, even though there wasn't written any of what he was going to say. "They made us believe we finished them off, and just waited it out. If the first time they only wanted to gather people and information, now we're facing a real threat. We're expected to send a messenger to Hidden Sand now."

Kakashi kept silent as he was patiently waiting for Shikamaru to finish.

"Someone whose death will mean the end of our alliance." The words came out with a bitter taste on his tongue.

"Sounds a little too obvious, don't you think?"

"Since we've lost all our means of communication there would be no other choice. It doesn't matter who are we going to send, they'll make sure nobody else will be able to cross the desert now." It was just like that the other time, when he visited Hidden Sand. If it wasn't for Temari's instincts back then… "They'll make sure that all our messengers will die from natural cause. They'll force us to use her, there's no doubt about that."

"What are you going to do about it?"

"It's not up to me to decide that, Kakashi-san. If her village is in danger Temari won't ask for permission." Not that she ever needed one...

"Then call your wife to the office, Shikamaru."

"Already did."

No matter how much he thought about it, there was no way to play out any strategy without her. He didn't want to think of it, but the rational part of his brain was telling him otherwise. It didn't matter what HE felt, after all. In shinobi world that was a luxury only for the few.

Somebody knocked on the door.

She was here.

As confident and serious as usual. Only few people could play goofy in Hokage's office, but Temari was certainly not the type. This time it was Kakashi explaining the whole situation. She didn't say a word, while he was going through the facts.

"...so we came to the conclusion, that you, Temari, is probably their target."

"You're wrong, Hatake Kakashi." She finally said. "There's no 'probably'. They want me dead."

She wasn't shocked at all. She said it wearing the same face as one could when talking about the weather or this year's harvest.

"Will you cooperate?"

"I don't mind playing the bait if the trap is good enough." She smirked. "I'll lead them to you."

"Then, for this S-ranked mission you'll be going..."

"Alone." She interrupted. "Don't take them for fools. I always travel alone between the villages. If they see or sense any escort, they'll know we are coming for them."

Shikamaru knew she was going to say that.

"Temari's right." He said.

Kakashi gave him a strange look.

"Is there any chance they would attack on the way to Hidden Sand?"

"Not likely." Shikamaru kept his answers short.

"Killing me in Hidden Sand would be meaningless." She nodded. "It's harder to pursue someone in the desert, they will actually have less chances to survive this race than me."

"We'll set the trap on a road between the borders with the Land of Wind and Hidden Leaf village. The moment they appear, Temari will send her summoning to inform us."

Strategy simple enough. Would they expect it? Probably. But they're still going to bet on killing her before she reaches the trap.

"How about setting a trap closer to the borders?"

"Closer than that would be too easy to notice." Temari replied. "That will make them grow suspicious, so there is high probability that they'll strike at full force in the very beginning. Those people are chosen to kill me after all, they have to possess the skills I cannot guard against. But that won't be their preferred outcome. I'll have to die as close to Hidden Leaf as possible."

"Placing the trap further will be too dangerous." Shikamaru added.

'The two of them didn't possibly have a chance to talk about this strategy, did they?' Kakashi thought.

"Shikamaru, you're going to lead the trap team. Take as many men as you'll need."

"Roger."

"Then, you'll be moving out tomorrow morning, Temari."

She nodded.

"Dismissed."

* * *

"Temari..." Shikamaru called out to her in the hallway.

"Stop worrying so much." Her eyes were as strict as usual.

"I can't really help it."

 _'Sacrifice is inevitable part of the missions...'_ it was young Temari's voice lecturing him in his head. They both grew up since that time, but somehow those words kept coming up in his mind. He still hated the idea of sacrificing anyone.

Real Temari sighted.

"I won't die."

Not even facing an enemy trained to take her life will shatter her confidence.

"How can you possibly know that?"

"That's because I'm going to do what I do best." She smiled. "I'm going to survive."

Never before it was that painful to look at that broad smile of hers.

"Thinking that they can take me just because they've got the numbers is too naive. I'm Temari of the Desert after all."

It wasn't only about the numbers. The skills, the jutsu, the training all of that was aimed to kill her. But Shikamaru didn't say anything about that.

Instead...

"It's Nara now."

She chuckled. He saw her touching the thin silver ring with her thumb.

"Right."

* * *

They showed up next moment she crossed the borders with Hidden Sand.

Just as it was predicted.

It would take them only one precise blow in her vitals and the alliance is no more.

And yet she volunteered to be a bait knowing all that from the beginning. It was inevitable. When she took that ring Temari herself drew a target mark on her back.

She knew it all along. And she didn't hesitate one bit. It wasn't in her character to do so.

Temari touched the engagement ring on her right hand. It was just a plain silver stripe, yet, having it on was reassuring. She'll make it home.

She promised.

She didn't stop or break her pace. _'Don't let the enemy be in an advantage. Don't reveal your cards from the beginning. Take it slow and analyse. Let the enemy engage while you anticipate it. Be one step ahead. They will always look down on you. Be smart about how you fight. Be patient. Anticipate and analyse, that's your strength. Clear all your emotions, and trust your senses. Your intuition can be a weapon if you know how to use it, if you know how to trust it.'_

The inner voice in her head belonged to her father. The previous Kazekage was strict, especially with his own children. And he taught them to be strict to themselves. _'If you don't, you'll die.'_

'Yes, father.' She thought and concentrated on her senses.

Those who doesn't have such convenient tools as Byakugan will have to be more aware of their surroundings. To devote every single cell of their bodies to feel slightest movements of the air. _'Wind will always help you. Your nature is wind. Your one true friend is wind. You were born to be one with wind. So become wind.'_ It was father's voice again. Only after his death she started following his words and teaching. After all, she was just as stubborn as he was. But no matter how rough was the man, he was good. Good enough to outlive all his enemies, and to fall by an ally's hand. His ambitions clouded his senses. A mistake shinobi of the Sand should never make. When you live in the desert, the only thing you can believe are your senses. He forgot his own words and so he died. This very moment Temari couldn't afford herself that luxury.

She closed her eyes and concentrated. Three to the left, three to the right. Six people was more than enough to kill any shinobi. In theory, they have 80% chance to succeed. Even though, Temari could probably take six of them, it was wise to assume that the squad was specifically chosen to nullify her defences and make her jutsu useless. So it is 80% chance of them succeeding after all. 20% chance of losing that they could never afford. That means, there are two more in hiding. Probably, they will wait, and attack once she's fooled by six disposable pursuers. A surprise she most likely will not survive. That leaves her with 5% chance of reaching safely her destination. The odds she had to beat no matter what. The odds that will make any man's heart boil.

But Temari wasn't any man.

In fact, she wasn't man at all.

That only thing gave her five percent chance of survival.

She hated when people pointed out that she wasn't a man. When they looked down on her just because of the mere fact that her physic was different. But eventually she learned to use it for her advantage. That was the beauty of being a girl. You are always looked down upon and thus you have an advantage.

They were close. Couple hundreds of meters till they engage. Couple of minutes. She started count down. She leapt to the right the second they attacked. Ten long needles pierced the ground where she stood few moments ago. Staying on the road in the open would be too dangerous. She'll have to make her way to the Leaf through the woods. But first...

Temari made the seals and bit her thumb.

Summoning jutsu.

The tiny animal that would usually be used as attacking force to amplify her Kamaitachi leapt forward and dissolved in the wind. Just a gentle breeze to inform that they're coming. Selected point was just five hours of road ahead. Five hours to stay alive by any cost. She doesn't need to fight them, she doesn't need to defeat them. The only thing she had to do, was to lead them to the Leaf village. And for that five percent chance of survival was more than enough.

Three to the right came out of their hiding the moment she made it to the trees. Land of Fire was a better place for hide and seek than The Land of Wind. In the deserts you're always wide open and vulnerable.

Temari leapt forward.

Another portion of needless struck the branch she was previously on. _'Don't even try to underestimate them. They're here to kill you. If you make a mistake, you'll die.'_ Temari clenched her teeth. 'Yes, father.'

The branch she jumped next was two meters below. Just in time to avoid another attack. The three from the left forced their way ahead of her. Smart, but not smart enough.

And yet, she was at disadvantage. Wide open even in the trees. Six enemies behind her, two in hiding. No matter where she'd go they can cover all the directions. Next attack she won't be able to dodge.

Another leap forward and she released her tessen. Huge wind broke out destroying tree branches that enemies were about to jump on. She attacked first. Three of them fell to the ground, quickly regaining their positions. Another three attacked back. Temari jumped again this time backwards, using her huge fan as a shield. She couldn't afford losing a chance to analyse their abilities. One struck with fire. An attack her tessen could easily block. The guy to the right of him threw his needles, probably chakra enhanced to be able to pierce through steel. And 98% chance covered in poison. She jumped again. The third one... his stance was far too familiar to Temari. She saw her little brother perform it so many times. Puppeteer strings could be attached to anything. Especially if his powers are combined with the poisonous needles that could pierce through her wind and her fan. She couldn't possibly dodge that attack.

Temari clenched her teeth.

Yet, there was a way out.

The puppeteer attacked at the same time as she swung her tessen. She didn't need to kill him, just blinding for a split second was enough. The wind created a smoke screen, giving her a mere second to escape. Sudden pain pierced through her shoulder, ankle and forearm. She took three needles instead of twenty and that was a success.

Temari started running the moment she escaped last attack. The smokescreen is not enough against guys from Hidden Sand. But it's likely to delay other four. She knew her own country mates were among the attackers. Not only the jutsu was familiar. The poison was as well. Perfect for capturing, it was never used to kill. Yet, it was deadly in many other ways. It made person lose his sense of reality without using genjutsu. You can't release poison, after all. The poison of the rarest and the tiniest scorpion in the desert. Poison that had no cure.

Yet, he miscalculated.

There was no antidote. But continuous use of the poison builds up immunity. One bite can delay the effects by two hours. In Temari's case, she got four. Four hours until the poison kicks in. Four and half hours until the trap.

She bit her lip and speeded up.

She has to make it.

She found herself touching her ring again.

Strange habit.

And yet it helped her concentrate.

It was the wind again that helped her escape next attack. Irregular movement of the air to her left became a signal. Just few moments before it was too late. So that guy can use supersonic speed. For short distances only, his abilities were inferior to that of the Raikage. Yet, carelessness can cost her life.

The puppeteer, fire user, poison and super speed. That leaves two more guys. And another two chosen for the final blow.

The others caught up. The closing heat in the air right behind her. The obvious choice would be to jump up or down and escape it completely, just to be pierced by another set of needles. Temari jumped to the left, releasing her tessen. Fierce wind cut through the chakra strings. She tore the left sleeve, that was still on fire. Another injury to slow her down. Four hours before the trap. Three and half hours before poison kicks in.

She can't afford to be slow.

And she can't afford to exhaust herself now. There were still four more hours to go...

Another series of attacks. Yet somehow Temari managed to escape all of them without taking any new injuries. Or, maybe it was other way around. The sudden realization brushed against her spine with cold touch. They weren't attacking to kill her anymore. One could even say, it was as if they've stopped trying hard. There could be two possible reasons for that. Hopeless idiot would think that they ran out of chakra. But then again Temari was never an optimist. She knew that they were leading her to the trap. While these six took their time to slow her down, the other two are probably waiting ahead. The only question is - how long does she have to come up with the plan.

One natural way out would be to jump down. Just in time for the supersonic guy to notice. He's been saving up his strength for a while now, that means he will strike. Jumping up will lead her straight to puppeteer who is supported by poison guy to the right. The guy to the left won't miss the chance to scorch her. It was a perfect circle. And yet, she had to risk it all to break free from their formation. And at this point she could only see one way.

'What would he do in the situation like this?' Temari touched her ring again and jumped backwards. It was a bad strategy. Shikamaru would probably laugh at her if he knew. To throw herself on two enemies who's justsu remained unknown. Yet, it was a move they were unlikely to anticipate. Two guys in the middle were too slow to react. Fierce wind broke their formation once again cutting through the chakra strings. And if only fire guy were to attack, it would be a victory. Temari jumped away from the wind. Breaking out from the formation didn't mean she was safe. And the fire guy did not use his jutsu. Damn.

Full speed ahead while changing directions to the left. Two more hours before the poison kicks in. Two and the half hours before the trap.

Temari's chakra was running lower than she expected. And yet she was only halfway there.

If she were to speed up here, she'd probably exhaust herself in an hour. 'Too early.' She thought. 'Be smart.'

Invisible punch came out of nowhere striking Temari in the back. First thought would probably be 'Genjutsu?' But only if you didn't feel the irregularity of the wind around. The fifth guy was a wind user. The attacks you can't see? Hard to feel and impossible to predict. The guy was good.

Another wind punch hit the wounded shoulder. Pain blinded Temari for a second. Enough to miss another blow from above that was meant to make her hit the ground. Right in time for the supersonic guy.

She knew too well, that it's impossible to guard herself now. And yet she struck with her wind realizing that it won't slow him down, and using her tessen as a shield predicting that his kunai will pierce through it. The only hope was to make him miss her vitals.

Right side of her stomach was raging with pain. And yet, she was still alive. One and half hours before poison kicks in. And too far for the trap place.

With one precise move she broke the arm of supersonic guy, and then hit him with her fan. She didn't need the jutsu now. Just brute force was enough to knock him down. Blood was dripping down. There was no use in hiding anymore. She just needed to keep going. That was the only option she was left with. To endure everything, they throw at her, and keep going. As close as she can get to the meeting point.

And so she did.

She had one more hour.

She started running at full speed.

Hey weren't hiding anymore either. All six of them running at right after her. They had more stamina, they had more strength, they didn't have any wounds. They were sure they would win.

Temari didn't need to look back to know what was written on their faces.

They were looking down on her. Once again.

Wounded and weakened with pain she wouldn't last long. There's nothing she can do now. That's what they were thinking.

And that was too naive.

There was one skill her father trained her to master. One skill essential to survive. And survival was the only thing Sand shinobi were best at.

Temari took a deep breath. And pain slowly faded. It wasn't healing nothing of such sorts. But she could block out it out better than her father ever managed to. She was an excellent student after all. And then she speeded up again. Still one hour till the trap point. Remaining two guys are waiting ahead not even trying to hide their chakra anymore. There's no chance of reaching the place before the poison will take over. She had to let them know.

This will exhaust her chakra, but it was her only choice. And for once she chose to believe in someone else. She jumped back on the road. The action that a desperate person driven into the corner would do. Pursuers didn't hesitate to follow her.

Only she wasn't.

She swung around herself gathering enough wind. The pursuers fell back knocked down by the fierce currents of air. Temari released her wind up ahead. It would look like she'd missed. She didn't have enough strength to control her own jutsu. They'll laugh for sure, looking down at her again. But that didn't matter. She started running again.

Reach it.

Just, please reach it.

The only person who can see through her wind.

Her vision went blurry. The blood loss wasn't something she could block out. She still had ten more minutes before the poison starts to work.

She fell down on her knees pushed down to the ground.

They decided to use earth gravity manipulation in the very end. Jutsu that will completely nullify her wind power. If only she had one to use anyway.

The circle was closed.

Even if she could, there was no way to run.

Temari was breathing heavily. Blood dripping from the wound on the stomach. Shoulder, ankle and forearm started to go numb from the poison.

A simple kunai would be enough at this point. And yet there was no strike.

The arrogant look on their faces was slowly disappearing. She knew exactly how they felt, they've won and yet...

They couldn't move an inch.

Temari was the one smiling now.

He made it.

Just barely in time, but in terms of assets you can use, luck was essential one.

It took couple of seconds for Hidden Leaf shinobi to seize all eight of the pursuers who were completely at mercy of Nara Shadow Binding Technique.

It was over.

She made it.

Temari tried to stand up, but her body wouldn't listen to her. She fell right in her husband's arms.

"Told you I would make it alive." She smiled at his worried face.

And then passed out.

* * *

They were barely in time. The sudden blow of wind that hit Shikamaru could hardly distinguished from the normal breeze. And yet, he knew too well just how Temari's wind felt like. Something was wrong. He just knew it.

"She wouldn't make it." He mumbled in sudden realization. "Move out, now!" He shouted to his squad. If the hit was at her full power, then her position would be... 'Damn this woman!' She knew he'd figure it out. She was betting her life on him. He was too afraid to think that for once she can be wrong.

And yet she wasn't.

Everything was over in a minute. Eight shinobi who failed to assassinate a single girl.

A girl too tough for them to take.

The girl was smiling.

Even when the blood was dripping from the both sides of her lips, even when her face was covered in bruises, even when she was barely alive.

Well, seeing your assassins captured actually was satisfying.

Shikamaru hurried to her place. Temari was barely conscious. All those wounds will make a man loose the will to struggle, let alone woman. Temari wasn't the case though. She gave Shikamaru one of her best smiles as if heavily bleeding wound in her stomach was nothing at all.

"Told you I would make it alive."

His heart squeezed in pain.

'Alive is not enough, silly.'

Medical team was quick to respond.

Shikamaru didn't see who was the one to press the hands full of green chakra flow to Temari's stomach. He actually didn't care at all. His hands were already covered in blood, and so were his clothes.

"We'll be able only to perform first-aid right now." Girl's voice said. Maybe it was even Sakura. "You need to take her to hospital immediately. "

He only replied with a nod.

"Just go. We'll finish up here."

That was someone else already.

"Let's go. I'll contact Tsunade-sama."

They set out next moment.

"Why? Is it that bad?"

"No." She lied. "I just don't want to make a mistake right now."

He didn't insist.

His feelings were a total mess right now. A part of him wanted to return and probably make a big mistake. He shouldn't be leaving. And yet, it was too dangerous to let him stay with the prisoners Temari risked her life to capture.

Temari.

She was a priority right now.

It was her who got hurt, and yet it was Shikamaru who felt the pain.

 _'Stop fidgeting. Didn't you receive emotional training?'_ The voice belonged to younger Temari in his mind. She was strict as usual. _'Stop fidgeting.'_ As if that was simple. _'When did you turn into such a dim-wit?'_ He didn't know. There's no way he'd know. _'Shikamaru! Get a hold of yourself!'_ Temari's voice again. This time older and accompanied by a slap to the face.

He shook his head.

"Shikamaru!" Somebody else was calling him. Sakura...

"What happened?"

"You had panic attack."

To think that Temari's slap would be the one to wake him up. He was useless without her after all.

* * *

 **Author's note:** How did you like good ol' action? I love this chapter. I decided to combine my bunch of romantic short stories into one after writing this particular part. And since it was one of the first ones I came up with… well, you know now where the story is coming from now. I enjoyed writing it, even though my timeline turned out to be really messy, haha. Sorry about that. So, this is when everything gets real. Even though this chapter is a bit cruel, but the beginning makes me go 'kyaaa!' every time I read it. I love how they keep drama in their heads and say only things that matter.

Here's another thing. I like playing Rasa card. I totally see him building up Temari's character. In many ways. No matter what I say later, I don't hate him. Nor does Temari. She understands his reasons and agrees with them. They are father and daughter after all. Actually, I kind of think that he adored her. In his own way.

Another chapter coming soon!


	11. Chapter 10: Broken

**Author's note:** Now this is the chapter I rated this story M for! Read at your own risk!

This one is not gonna be a happy one. I'm actually hesitating a lot while hitting 'publish' button.

* * *

Moments

Chapter 10: Broken

Tsunade-hime was already waiting for them. After her retirement as a Hokage she mostly spent her days gambling. But in times like this, when her presence was needed in the hospital, she'd still come to help. It was just few very short moments before medical-nins took unconscious Temari into the operating room.

And then hours of waiting.

Shikamaru knew it before, how painful it is to wait right in front of operation room. What are the chances that it was actually the same one? It was hard to tell, since the hospital was rebuilt several times since then. The seconds were crawling like minutes. And each minute felt like an hour. Shikamaru's nervousness already started to break out from the surface. _'Stop fidgeting. Sacrifice is essential part of a mission. Didn't you receive emotional training?'_ She would probably be able to remain calm. At least on the outside. He wanted for his imagination to picture her like that. But in his mind she was all beaten up and wounded with a bright smile on her face. Who'd smile in the situation like that?

Shikamaru tried to calm down, but instead started to walk across the hallway. They shouldn't have done that. All this mission was a bad idea. They should have thought it through better. They should have found another option. It shouldn't have ended like that. But still...

The hallway was just ten steps across.

Even though Shikamaru did realize they didn't have any other choice at this point of time, even though the ambush would happen sooner or later, even though those people could have attacked in the middle of Hidden Leaf if they were desperate enough. The situation had to be taken under control before it's too late. There was no other choice. Interrogation will start soon enough, and then all Sand-Leaf alliance opposes will be eliminated as traitors. The mission was a success. He didn't make any mistake this time. And knowing Temari, she'd probably weighted down each of her decisions very carefully. Her choice to suffer minor injuries for the sake of the whole mission was totally reasonable. If she fought them to death, she wouldn't be that badly wounded. Everything went on right, but why the hell Shikamaru was so upset about that?!

Temari would have laughed at him right now.

The hallway was ten steps across.

Not enough to calm one down.

Not enough to waste time efficiently.

Waiting was hell. Even worse than the war itself.

Somebody quietly approached. Long mantle and wide hat, that covered the only visible part of this man's face.

Sixth Hokage.

"Report the situation." Kakashi said.

"It was a success. The capture group will soon arrive with eight prisoners. We'll start interrogation right away."

"How is she?"

Shikamaru clenched his teeth.

"She was wounded badly. We had to relocate the trap setting further from Hidden Leaf because of that."

"I see. Do you know about her condition right now?"

"Tsunade-sama is working with them."

The door to operation room opened.

She looked as young as usual, still hiding away her real age. Light colored hair tied in two tails. She didn't even have a change in her clothes. Fifth Hokage. As if Shikamaru actually came back in time of his first mission as a chunnin, as a group leader.

"Temari is in no mortal danger right now." She didn't even bother to greet her successor.

Huge weight was lifted from Shikamaru's heart, and yet something still didn't felt quite right.

"I can sense a 'but'." Sixth carefully mentioned.

Tsunade-sama gave him a glare.

"Her injuries were serious, but not mortal. That wasn't the reason Sakura called for me. It was these." She showed them one of the needles pulled out from Temari's body. "It was covered in poison. Only a very rare type of black scorpion produces it, they're almost extinct because of that. The poison that isn't compatible with any other toxins. I've only seen it work couple of times. It's untraceable, it is immediately dissolved in blood. It starts to work at the same moment it enters body. And this poison has no cure."

Shikamaru felt like the ground suddenly disappeared.

"No cure... but you just..."

"Yes, that's right. This poison is not used to kill, you see. Plus, it's easy to build up an immunity against the toxins. Just five bites of the black scorpion are enough to never be affected by it again. The cost is too high, though."

"What do you mean by that?" He was slowly losing his patience.

"The poison makes a person lose all the connection to reality, and at the same time amplifies the sense of fear and pain. So basically, a person starts to hallucinate as if they were in completely different dimension full of terrors and pain. Well, let's just say it's not pretty. Plus, it gets worse with each bite. All people who were bitten five times had lost their sanity forever." Tsunade-hime paused. "The poison works immediately, it's a great tool for capturing and interrogation. Judging from what I saw, that's Temari's third black scorpion bite. Or else she'd be captured long before she could reach your trap."

"So?" It was Kakashi to ask that. "What to expect?"

"She won't wake up for the next three days. Hallucinations had already started, you see. It's no use talking to her right now. Better proceed with interrogation."

"I see."

"Can I... see her?" Shikamaru said.

"Are you sure? It's going to be really ugly."

"I am sure."

Tsunade exhaled.

"She won't see you. And even if she does, she won't recognize you. Not even your voice, not your touch. There's nothing you can do, but wait and help her recover after that time is over."

"Still..."

"Let him do that." Kakashi said. "Shikamaru, you have a week off, starting from tomorrow. Take good care of her."

"You're spoiling him too much."

"It's ok. He won't be able to work in this state."

"If you insist." Fifth Hokage now turned back to Shikamaru. "But I still wouldn't recommend that."

"I don't care."

Just the thought of waiting again was painful enough, not even mentioning leaving the person you love in agony alone. No, if she was going through hell, he wanted to go through it with her. That what he swore to do when she became his wife.

* * *

"Just remember. It's not her right now. No matter what she says, don't listen. Even if she would scream or beg. Do you understand?"

"Yeah."

Temari was still pale from the blood loss, and her body was covered in bandages, making her look like a mummy. Medical ninjutsu was not magic. Not on the level when wounds will just disappear. Expecting something like that would be plain stupid. The body needed time to heal and restore strength on its own. Temari's wrists and ankles were tied up to the bed with thick leather stripes. Another one, that went across both shoulders and her chest, was to make sure that she won't be able to get up. It was almost impossible for her to move at all, and yet she remained still. Tsunade-sama said that sick visions, that can eventually destroy her mind, had already begun. And yet there was nothing.

Shikamaru didn't believe that this poison can bring down someone like Temari with principles made of iron and mind made of steel.

"Let them know if you need anything." With this Tsunade left.

Nothing happened for about an hour. That's why he nearly missed when her hand twitched for the first time. Her fists clenched, she strained her muscles trying to set at least her arm free. Then another arm, her legs. Everything was useless. Before he knew it, she was trying desperately to break free from her restraints with all the strength left in her body. Even consumed by the terror she remained herself, biting her lips so hard that they would bleed. It was another six hours later when she wasn't able to hold her scream back anymore.

Whatever she saw in her dreams, it was hundreds of times worse when she was awake. Her eyes were open, but her glance was empty. With her whole body struggling in the restraints she would start talking. None of her words made any sense. No matter what it was that she was seeing, she never begged for her life. With her golden hair sticking to her cheeks still wet from tears she would ask for death. She begged to kill her three hundred sixty-one time. And the words 'I want to die' she said another two hundred eighty-seven times.

'That's not her.' Shikamaru kept telling himself, with his vision blurred by tears.

It was just as Tsunade said, she didn't recognize anyone, and she didn't react to anything. Not even when he held her hand, whispered her name or kissed her forehead. She didn't notice it at all. But sometimes that was enough to calm her down, to fall asleep into another nightmare. And then she remained silent for another couple of hours before she started screaming again.

It was hard to tell just how much time had passed. The only hints were the medical nin dropping by every couple of hours. They didn't say much, but they were useful to calculate the time.

By the third day, she seemed smaller than she was before leaving Hidden Leaf, probably the lack of proper food was the cause. Her skin seemed whiter with red swollen eyes and tangled hair. She looked like a ghost of her usual self. And yet when she gently squeezed his hand and turned her green eyes onto him, He knew that she was herself again.

"Shika... maru..." her voice still weak and broken made him jump up from his seat.

The restrains left ugly scars on her body. He didn't really care what the doctors would say on this matter, he just couldn't bear it any longer.

She even felt smaller, when he embraced her.

"I'm fine now." It was a lie. Lie so obvious that he didn't even need to think about it. With her whole body trembling like that there was no way in hell she'd be fine.

"Don't you ever try to do that again." He finally said. His voice was trembling too.

"You realize that I can't promise you that?" She tried really hard to sound like her usual self.

He didn't have time to reply. The door opened. Just as he thought, the doctors were not happy about him releasing Temari on his own. But with Tsunade standing right in front of them all they could do was giving him angry glares. But he still didn't care.

"How are you feeling?" The former Hokage asked as she came closer.

"I'm fine." Temari repeated her lie. This time she sounded more confident about that. They've had to let go for the brief check-up.

Tsunade-hime frowned for a moment.

"How old were you when you got first bitten by the scorpion?"

"Six." Temari said.

"Why?" Tsunade demanded.

"For the training."

"Did your father knew about the risks of putting you through that at such young age?" She seemed angry. "The bite is devastating enough to drive a grown up man out of his mind!"

"He knew. I would have proven myself worthless if I didn't pull through that."

"Second time?"

"I was twelve. To build up immunity. It came in handy after all."

"But why? Those scorpions are almost extinct, there's no way one could use the poison."

"Father ordered to breed them. The day he died all of the scorpions disappeared. I guess I can safely assume where to now."

"You know, that you only have two more times left?"

"When this is over, I'll destroy all the bastards myself."

Tsunade looked at her and nodded.

"You should go home now. It would be easier that way." Fifth Hokage headed to the door. "Shikamaru, come with me for a while."

They've left the room. Once the door closed Tsunade started to talk again.

"I hope you understand that it doesn't end here. I can't tell you for how long, but she'll still see and hear things. Don't let her off your sight."

"Understood."

While he was talking with Tsunade, nurses helped Temari change. She was now sitting on the bed and staring into the wall. Another hallucination?

She twitched when he crouched right in front of her. She blinked few times and then stared back at him.

"What?"

"I'm thinking."

"Huh?"

"Do I let you play tough or not."

"What's up with that?" Her eyes narrowed down.

"No it is." And Shikamaru picked her up. "Let's go then."

"I can walk on my own!"

"I know."

"Then let me go."

"Don't want to."

"This is embarrassing."

"So what?"

She was pouting. And probably angry. But in no condition to fight. She herself knew that much.

Shikamaru sighted.

"Look, I get it. You hate feeling this weak. And knowing you, you'd probably make it to the house even if it kills you. And that's exactly why I don't want any of this to happen. Sick people should rest. So bear with it for a while."

"I'm not sick." So stubborn.

"Yeah, yeah. I know."

She wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Make it quick then."

"Yes, ma'am."

* * *

The wall in Temari's hospital room was bleeding. Tiny dark spot appeared there, when Tsunade left the room with Shikamaru. Then a bright red drop fell down leaving a trace on a white wall. The blood was dripping through the spot as if it was a mortal wound. And then, something there started to move, crawling its way to the surface. Temari could see a pair of dark claws breaking through the wall, a long tail armed with stinger, eight pairs of jointed legs appeared one by one. And finally pitch black abdomen crawled through the hole. After the first scorpion was out, two more started to crawl out after him. More, and more till whole wall was covered in them.

When the familiar face appeared out of nowhere she turned her eyes away. The scorpions were gone. So was the blood. She blinked, but the vision did not return.

'This is going to be hard.' She thought when they've left the room. She saw dark spots on the walls, on the ceiling, on the people. As they've started bleeding she averted her eyes.

'It's not real.' She told herself. 'It's not real.'

But then again, she heard the scorpions crawling their way out. When they've left the building, everything was already black.

* * *

Shikamaru knew he made a right decision the moment they've left the room. No matter how hard she tried to hide it, Temari's widened eyes, clenched teeth, tightened grip would tell the truth. The picture she was seeing was completely different from his.

"Temari." He called out when they've left the hospital. "You ok?"

"Yeah." She said relaxing a bit.

* * *

The city was covered in blood as they've walked through it. At least that's how Temari saw it. The streets, the houses, the people. It looked like some kind of massacre happened throughout the village. And people were not people at all. In fact, they looked like the corpses. That one had no head, and the other's got at least ten knives sticking out from his back. People with half of their faces missing were smiling at her. The burned ones were waving. Those with bleeding wounds were shouting something friendly at her. And everyone was looking.

'It's not real. It's not real. It's not real."

Bloated with water, burned to the crisp, gutted, skinned, torn apart, beheaded, deformed corpses were smiling, waiving, calling, staring...

Staring...

Staring...

Every corpse around here was staring at her with a soulless smile...

'Don't stare at me! Don't stare at me! Don't stare at me!' Her inner mantra changed as she once again felt herself terrified.

"Shikamaru." No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop her voice from shaking.

"You ok?" His voice broke through the vision once again. Walking corpses were gone.

"Yeah." She replied. She felt herself trembling again. "Faster."

"Ok."

* * *

Midway her tough act started to crumble.

Faster.

And so he did.

Few familiar faces were there in the crowd, but he still ignored them all.

"It's not real." She would repeat it countless times with just her lips moving. He swayed from the main street to the shortcut. Will have to jump over few fences, but that wasn't the problem.

"It's not real. It's not real. It's not real." She was mumbling to herself.

"What's not real?" He asked.

"Nothing's real." She replied.

From here he could now see his house.

"Something has to be real." Just a little bit longer.

"You are real."

"That's all?"

"Yeah."

All that's left was a front door.

"You ok?"

"Yeah."

"We're home."

"Yeah."

"Is it real?"

She turned around, looking at familiar walls.

"Yeah."

* * *

"What are you going to do now?" She was calming down already.

"Shower." She said in her usual voice.

"All right." He didn't let the smirk appear in his face.

"Shikamaru, what exactly are you doing?" She asked when he followed her to the bathroom.

"I could use the shower too."

"You don't have to do that." She said stubbornly. "I'm fine. Don't worry."

"I'm not." He said pulling his shirt off. "I just miss you."

For a moment they were staring into each other's eyes. Lies. Whole bunch of lies that was. They both knew well enough that the other was lying. And yet, calling his or her bullshit will mean ruining your own lie. That's why their relationship could play out so well. There could be no lies to begin with.

"Fine then." She said. They're going to play with the lies.

He grinned at her as he moved closer.

"See, it's not so hard." His lips barely touched her ear as he said that. He almost heard her pulse getting quicker. Whole missing part wasn't exactly a lie. "We can play this game if you want."

She lifted her head to meet his gaze. Her eyes though still red and swollen had the same glimmering power in them, scary, but alluring. Her skin even pale felt the same when he touched her face. His thumb brushed against her lips - bruised and yet as tempting as ever. He had seen many faces of this woman, but it was his first time seeing her broken.

But even broken it was still her.

They were just looking each other in the eyes, and yet it felt like a lot more.

"Are you going to shower wearing those?"

He didn't even need to finish that sentence when her clothes dropped down on the floor.

"Don't need them." She said reaching out for his lips, as her hands travelled down his chest to undo the belt.

...Scorching water will bring back the colors to her skin, and her bruised lips will smile again. She wasn't meant to be broken. That's why she'll recover. And stand even stronger than she was before. She can't remain broken forever, and she won't. Because that wasn't her way...

* * *

 **Author's note:** You probably think I'm a total creep, but this is my favorite chapter of all I wrote. I do have an inner sadist in me, after all. Nevertheless, this chapter was the whole purpose of this story, I figured that out a bit later, though. You'll know in the next and final part.

If you read carefully chapter 9 and 10, you might notice one similar line both of them think "he/she will laugh at me". Truth to be told, I was surprised myself when I went through my draft version of this chapter. I was like: "Did I really write this?" Without even thinking too much about it I went and wrote the most essential part of their relationship. I mean just how highly they think of each other's opinion. And that is just too cute.

Now for the visions part… I wanted to make them creepy. And if you think that being stared at is not scary… well, I kind of put there my personal nightmare. Only I's real for me, lol. It kind of turned out to be very important to me to write it like this. Even thought I tried to soften it a bit, compared to my original version, haha.

And the last sensual scene… omg, I love it! The last words are way too perfect for me to write them, haha. Love this chapter. Even if I went and overdid it, destroyed original characters, wrote total OOC… I kind of don't mind it. This chapter is just like I intended it to be, it reveals the most twisted parts of my mind, after all. I don't regret anything.

Next chapter is the last one. Chapter 11 title would be "Father". Can you figure out who am I going to write about?

See you!


	12. Chapter 11: Father

Moments

Chapter 11: Father

Somebody knocked on the door.

"I'll get that." Shikamaru said. Although what he really wanted to say was "You'll be ok?" Temari could see that much.

"I'll be fine." She didn't have to lie about that anymore. It has been already three days since she woke up from the poison. The visions would still visit her from time to time, but they were not as intense now. It was easier to block them out.

Usual routine helped out a lot, actually. Something like daily chores would take her mind off the things she was seeing. Although, Shikamaru would still watch carefully when she was cooking.

"All right." He left the kitchen to get the door.

Visions usually would start when she was alone. And yet, couple of minutes had passed and there was nothing. She exhaled, relaxing. Somehow, she forgot to breathe.

She was still chopping the vegetables when tiny black scorpion crawled up her hand.

She froze.

"Temari." The voice that called her name was very familiar. To the point that she felt herself a little girl again. "What is your true worth, Temari?"

Simple black clothes. He preferred that color ever since the day mother died. Dark red hair cut short in the most efficient way. And those eyes... strict merciless eyes of his. The way he was looking at his children was never even close to be gentle. The gentle part of him died together with his wife.

Father.

"What is your worth, Temari?"

He asked again, just like that day, when he called her to his office where a plain box full of jet black scorpions was waiting for her.

He said those exact words at that day.

 _"Girls are weak. Are you weak, Temari?"_

 _"No."_ That's was her answer.

 _"Then prove it to me. Show me your true worth."_ He opened up the box.

The last thing she remembered was tiny black scorpions sitting on her hand.

There was nobody to pull her out from the nightmares that time. Nobody to hold her or guard from visions. She had to endure it in her own. And even when her father was calling for training, she would still come, no matter what she was seeing, no matter how scared she was. Her father never smiled or said anything about that. But the approval in his eyes was enough to keep going.

The second time was similar. But he actually made her choose. That time, when she reached for the scorpions in the box, she was looking her father right in the eyes. When was the exact time she grew to be just as strict and stubborn as he was? She knew one thing though. That she didn't want to be like him. That's why she chose to become stronger, and tiny black stingers pierced through her skin.

The third time was different though.

This time, she wasn't alone.

And her father looked... disappointed.

"You've grown weak, Temari."

Tiny scorpions started to crawl up her sleeve.

"Temari!" Someone grabbed her hand with the knife.

Scorpions were gone, and so was her father. There was blood though, all around her. She dropped the knife she was squeezing in her palm. The reality came back and her hand was bleeding.

"You ok?" Shikamaru worried face was even worse than her father's disappointment.

She turned around and hugged him. For the first time since she woke up instead of "I'm fine" she said:

"I hate this."

They've stood in silence for a while.

"You've ruined my shirt." It was the only thing he said.

Temari couldn't help but laugh.

* * *

She was standing in front of the mirror. This time she picked simple dark blue colored kimono. The only advantage it had, was very short skirt, making it really easy to move around. As Temari was trying it on, she kind of wondered why she never wore it earlier. Before she tied up the belt she noticed something different about her body. Deep in her thoughts she touched her belly.

"What are you doing?" Shikamaru asked standing in the door. She could only see his reflection, though. But looking at him like this - topless and with his black hair down - made her forget what she was thinking about.

"Are you spacing out again?" He asked moving closer.

"No, I was just thinking." He was now standing right behind her.

"It left a scar." She showed him thin white stripe on her belly where she got hit during her last mission.

"Never thought you're the type to worry about scars."

"It's not that I worry. I just didn't notice it up till now." She said thoughtfully.

"Hmm?" She felt his breath on her cheek. "I've just got a good idea."

"What is it?"

"Why don't you take this off?" He actually pulled undone kimono down.

"You're greedy."

"I might as well be."

* * *

That night she was dreaming of her family. Living or dead they were all there. Temari could feel supporting shoulder of her husband right beside her. She saw Gaara's gentle smile and Kankurou's pouting face. She heard encouraging voices of her mother and Yoshino-san. Yashamaru and Shikaku were standing further away, looking upon the children with pride. And he was also there. A man with a heart as rough as the desert itself and as cold as it's nights.

Her father.

But this one time it was different.

For the first time in her life, the expression he was wearing was somewhat softer. His eyes seemed sad, when he looked at her.

He hesitated for a moment, as if he had no right to speak at all. But this time instead of his usual "You have to be strong", he said:

"Be happy, Temari."

When she woke up, she felt tears running down her cheeks.

* * *

The guy who came by their house that evening was the messenger from Hokage himself. Interrogation was over, and since rebels' headquarters location together with the names of the officers were known, it was now the time to attack. The messenger brought him all the intel they managed to pull out from the heads of eight assassins sent for Temari's life.

"Sorry to bother you on your vacation days, but we need you to prepare a strategy for the ambush." Those were Kakashi's words.

They weren't wrong from the very beginning. Everything started in Hidden Sand village around the time former Kazekage decided to attack Hidden Leaf. The moment his closest subordinates heard about his failure, they went into hiding. Ever since Gaara took his father's seat, the direction Hidden Sand chose to follow changed drastically. It would be a mere understatement to say, that some of the Sand shinobi remained unsatisfied and tried to rebel. But this group in particular had the most patience of them all, that was probably a reason why they've actually came this far. They were smart enough to wait it out after the first attempt failed, and even relocated their base. They've believed in fourth Kazekage's cause and yet misjudged the strength of the children he trained himself.

And that was their downfall.

They've had nowhere to run now.

It's easy enough to track someone down when you know his face and name.

They knew Hidden Leaf shinobi are coming. And at this point of time, they only had two options. To give up or take a fight. As proud as they are, it would be the second option.

The old believers will never perish. No matter which village it is, there still would be people who don't have any trust in shinobi alliances. And once another rebellious group is created, they would gladly join forces. Even after this fight the remnants of the past will not be eliminated.

That's why they were trying to build a new world without any reason to fight.

But it only works with the words.

It's in people's nature to fight.

Nothing has changed, after all.

Shikamaru was browsing through the papers he was working on. This time all five villages will unite once again to put a stop to this rebellion. But even when they win, it won't be over yet.

It's never over.

He never heard her coming.

It was only when she hugged him from behind that he realized she was there.

"When did you wake up?"

"A while ago." Temari said looking at the papers he was working on.

"What did you dream of?"

No matter how many times he asked this question, she never told him about any of her nightmares. It was more of a habit now; he didn't really expect an answer.

"My father."

"What did he say?"

"He told me to be happy."

"That doesn't sound like a nightmare."

"It wasn't."

"Shikamaru." She said thoughtfully.

"Mm?"

"You've made a mistake."

"Ha?"

She pointed at one of the papers.

"Over there."

She was right.

"Can you be at least a little bit cuter about this?" he rolled his eyes up.

"No." Dead serious. "Let me check those."

She grabbed papers before he could even react.

"What a drag…"

* * *

"I'm back." Shikamaru said heading straight to the kitchen. He knew he could find her there.

"Welcome back." She gave a faint smile as she turned around.

That was something new.

"You seem happy today." He noticed.

"You think so?" Temari went back to the cooking.

It was couple of weeks now since she spaced out last time. Tsunade was pretty sure that it was impossible to recover that quickly, even for someone as strong as Temari. And yet, for some time now she was just like before: a strict look in her eyes, hair tied up in two ponytails behind her ears, her whole self was brimming with confidence and power. And yeah, she looked happy. It wasn't obvious, but just a faint smile, a spark deep in her green eyes made a huge difference.

"Kind of." He said instead.

She shrugged.

Even though it seemed weird, that wasn't a bad thing. Shikamaru thought lighting up the cigarette like he would do in his office.

"Shikamaru..." as pure ice-cold fury was raging in Temari's voice, he realized that he made a grave mistake. She turned around with a plate in her hand. "Just how many times do I have to tell you not to smoke in the kitche..."

And then something happened.

The plate fell down from her hand shattering into dozens of pieces.

"Temari?.."

For a moment she was just as pale as the other day she woke up from the poison. And yet, it was different. It didn't look like spacing out at all, she was fully awake, pressing left hand against her lips.

"What's wrong?!"

"Just put out that thing and open the windows." She managed to say.

Couple of minutes later when the cigarette smoke left the kitchen she was still breathing heavily.

"What's wrong?" He asked again.

As she was fighting nausea, in her mind Temari was calculating. After all, she was always careful about THAT. However, last couple of weeks after she had left to Hidden Sand, then the journey back, being poisoned and then the recovery messed up her timeline completely. 'It's possible.' She finally thought to herself as the result came out. Her heart started to beat faster, as she realized what exactly happened to her.

"Nothing you have to worry about." Temari said. "Just no smoking in the house."

It was amusing to watch just how clueless he can be for a moment.

"Forever?" That was the silliest thing to ask.

"Nine months or so." She said with a straight face, as if nothing happened. "And then couple of years till the baby grows up."

Holding up her smile was even harder than fighting off the guys who wanted her dead.

"Huh?" Shikamaru's mind went completely blank as he tried to process it. "Huh?!"

She started laughing.

'Nine month', 'baby'... those words kept roaming around his mind until he finally understood.

"Y-you... are..."

"Is that too troublesome for you?"

"You are the troublesome one." She was still laughing when he hugged her.

The idea of becoming a father was still somehow strange to him.

"Hey, Shikamaru." Her voice sounded unexpectedly gentle.

"What is it?"

She moved closer so that she could reach his ear.

"Thank you." She whispered.

She wasn't just looking happy, he realized. She was happy. As she was never before in her life. It was almost blinding to look at her.

Suddenly the words she said once came to his mind. _"If I'm ever to become a mother, then I'd choose to protect my baby forever. Even in my death. It runs in the family, after all."_ It was so long ago, that it almost seemed like a different lifetime. But he still remembered the gentle smile she had on that day. She would do that without hesitation. He knew she would. That's why this time around Shikamaru thought: 'Then I'll protect you.'

The End

* * *

 **Author's note:** Did you guess it right? Original idea was about Rasa. But then the last scene came to mind, and… so technically… there's no right answer in the end, sorry, haha. For the 'mistake' scene I almost wrote Temari's line as "No, that's not me". Well, hello there Arya Stark. Haha.

Alright, final chapter is here. I'm very thankful for all the support and the comments you wrote! I'm very happy to know that you loved it! I tend to lose confidence in my own writing pretty often, so, yeah. Words cannot express how grateful I am. Haha.

I wanted to write a lot more here, but the story won't let me go just yet. Somehow I ended up writing one more extra chapter, so bear with me for one more day, haha.


	13. Extra Chapter: Puzzle

Moments

Extra Chapter: Puzzle

"I'm home."

"Where've you been?!"

"Inojin's."

"Do you even realize what time is it?" His mom was angry. That much Shikadai could tell from her ice-cold glare. Dad wasn't home again. He'll probably come back late at night, as usual.

"It's half past nine."

Sometimes he hated it here. No matter how he looked at it, his family did not seem happy at all. Compared with Inojin's home - always full of warmth, happiness and love - Shikadai's place seemed cold. There were days, when Shikadai didn't want to go home, to hear his dad's complains and mom's scolding. It would be nice to be born in a normal family. Just like Boruto, Shikadai kind of wished for his dad to do some boring job and come home more often. That way even his mom would probably soften up and lecture her kid less.

This particular lecture Shikadai heard many times already. By now he already learned, that if he were to interrupt, leave or complain, it would be ten times worse. Sometimes, he even suspected that his mom can read his mind. The word 'troublesome' even pronounced in his head could bring upon his head a storm heavier than an actual hurricane. At this point, all Shikadai's strength went to hold back that one word. He had to listen.

No matter how troublesome that was.

He saw his mom's eyes narrowing down.

'Oh, crap!' he thought in panic. 'Did she notice?'

His mom sighted.

"Go eat now. And then finish your homework."

The storm avoided him somehow.

"Did that."

"Fine."

To tell the truth, Shikadai didn't want to eat at all. Spending time with Boruto always meant eating hamburgers whenever they feel hungry. Even after all these years Shikadai didn't mind that, since junk food was so much tastier that anything they can eat at home. The only minus was that unlike Hokage's son, he didn't have enough room in his stomach to fit in proper supper afterwards. Which will also mean making his mom angry.

"The food will go cold if you don't eat." There was no hiding it.

"I'm not hungry." Shikadai said standing up from the table.

His mom gave him her favorite look, that usually made him shiver with fear.

"You ok?"

"Y-yeah… I'll go to my room."

He escaped before the storm started.

'Inojin wouldn't probably run away from his mom like that…' he thought falling down on his bed.

Even if trading families would be possible, Inojin would never agree to it. They were a happy family. Unlike his own.

With this thought Shikadai fell asleep.

When he opened his eyes it was already dark outside. The clock showed two in the morning. 'What a drag' he thought, standing up to go to bathroom. On his way Shikadai saw the lights in the kitchen. 'So he did come back tonight after all.' His dad was sitting near the window and smoking.

"Mom will kill you if you do that. And me too for covering you." The boy said.

His dad just laughed.

"Why don't you sleep?"

"Bathroom. You?"

"Your mom kicked me out from the bedroom." He laughed again.

How can he laugh at this?

"Dad." Shikadai went for the question that was bothering him for years now. "Why would you be with someone as troublesome as mom?"

"She IS troublesome, eh?" Dad was still smiling. "Well, that was because your mom was the hardest puzzle I've got to solve."

"People don't marry each other because of that. They marry because they love each other." Shikadai didn't even realize, that he sounded just like his mom right now. "Wasn't your marriage for the purpose of maintaining alliance with Hidden Sand?"

"You're wrong here." Dad put out his cigarette. "I've asked your mom to marry me because I never wanted her to leave."

"What's with that?" Shikadai felt kind of disappointed.

"Let me ask you one thing." His dad moved closer, so their eyes would be on the same level. "Do you love your mom?"

Shikadai didn't answer. It's not that he didn't, but...

"Then, do you hate her?"

Shikadai didn't answer this one too. She was annoying sometimes, but that doesn't mean...

"Ok, now try to imagine, what will happen if your mom is not here."

Shikadai started thinking. If mom wasn't there he would... he would... he would be able to play games as much as he wanted. He would be able to eat junk food all the time. Nobody will scold him when he comes back home late, when he throws his things around, when he doesn't clean his room or doesn't wake up on time. The picture didn't seem tragic at all.

"You don't get it, do you?" His dad laughed and stood up.

"Where are you going?"

"Sleep."

"Mom will kill you."

"If I gave up every time she promised to kill me, we wouldn't be together."

Shikadai looked at his dad's back.

His parents were weird.

Inojin's family seemed so much more normal.

* * *

"I totally understand ya!" Boruto exclaimed. Out of all people in Shikadai's class he was dissatisfied with his family the most. "I mean, me too! If I could, I would totally trade families with Sarada. Her dad is so cool!"

"Your dad is Hokage, and her dad is a creep." Shikadai's words were as cold as his attitude.

"He's not!" Boruto started to shout louder than Shikadai's mom. "It's just he's always wearing black that..."

"Yeah, yeah..."

He didn't listen.

"Which family would you want to trade for?"

"Inojin's, probably. They always seem happy."

"Hmm... I guess you have a point." Boruto thoughtfully said. "Wanna hang out to play again?"

"Mom will kill me if I do that two days in a row." And that was troublesome. "Wasn't your mom angry at you yesterday?"

Boruto remembered something and twitched as his face went pale.

"Yeah, very angry."

* * *

"I'm home."

There was no reply.

'Huh, nobody's here?' thought Shikadai entering the house. Well, his dad must be at work, but it was unusual for his mom to be out when he comes back from school. 'Groceries, probably.' He went straight to his bedroom. 'I could have totally stayed to play with guys today.' Shikadai thought turning on his game.

He managed to clear five whole levels, before is tummy started to grumble. It was quarter to seven now, but he never heard anyone come in. 'That's strange.' Shikadai thought, looking out from his room.

The house was just as empty as it was couple of hours before, when he came back. The hallways were dark and quiet. Shikadai didn't remember his house to ever look that scary, since his mom was always there. Well, he actually hardly remembered his house without mom at all. It's like she was always there. Sometimes Shikadai would even feel annoyed about that.

But, when he thought about it more carefully, his mom was even scarier than the empty house.

"I'm home." He heard door opening.

The switch went on in the hallway, blinding Shikadai for few seconds.

That was his dad. He came earlier today which was already unusual, the worst thing is that dad was carrying takeout with him. Out of all possibilities the boy could think of…

"Where's mom?" Shikadai said instead of greetings. "Did you have a fight?"

Somehow he remembered the words his dad said at night. Maybe, by that time they've already quarreled and then in the morning after seeing them off mom left…

"No, there was an urgent business in Hidden Sand to attend. She'll be gone for few days." His father seemed very surprised. "Why would you think that?"

"Is that so..." Shikadai didn't reply to the question. 'See, there's a reasonable explanation, there was no need to panic!'

His tummy grumbled again.

"You hungry?" Dad asked.

Shikadai nodded.

"Go heat this up." His father gave him food and went straight to the living room.

'So, if mom's not here, I can...' Shikadai smiled, imagining himself playing games whole night.

He fell asleep an hour later his usual bedtime.

* * *

When Shikadai opened his eyes, is was already bright outside. The alarm didn't go off yet, which meant that he had some more time to sleep. He lifted his head just to look at the clock.

It was noon.

He was supposed to be in school four hours ago.

"Oh, crap!" He left his bed and rushed to his parents' room. His father was sleeping too.

"Dad! Wake up! We're LATE!"

"Temari, just five more minutes..."

"DAD!"

He finally opened his eyes, looked at his son, then at the clock.

"Oh, crap!"

Fifteen more minutes of total chaos and they've finally left the house.

When Shikadai came to school, he was immediately taken to the principal's office. Long lecture and an explanation letter he had to write were far more humiliating than any of his mom's scolding.

His classmates were laughing at him too.

"It's not usual for you to be late." Inojin said smiling. "You couldn't wake up without your mom?"

"Sh-shut up." Sitting through the remaining two classes was a torture.

"Hey, since your mom is not home, how about we play till late today?"

"Oh, great idea! I'm in!" Boruto exclaimed. Whole class was staring at him now.

"Boruto…" Aburame-sensei looked like he's going to lose his cool anytime soon. "You're staying here after classes for cleaning duty."

"No waaaaaay…"

* * *

Not having to listen to a troublesome lecture first thing after entering the house this late in the evening was certainly a new experience for Shikadai. He stood there for a moment staring into a dark hallway. Having nobody to wait for you wasn't actually as refreshing as he thought it would be. Instead it felt kind of lonely. Just like saying something like "I'm home" into the silence of an empty house would be meaningless without reply.

Shikadai turned on the lights. The house was in total mess, just like they've left it in the morning.

'If mom saw this, she'd kill us...' Shikadai thought and started cleaning up.

He gave up, after he realized that he had absolutely no idea where half of the things belonged to. It was already past nine in the evening. Shouldn't be dad home by now? Well, since he was this late for work, staying there till late would be expected.

'I'll wait for him. Just a little.' Decided Shikadai, turning on his game.

Somehow new levels seemed so boring, that he fell asleep.

Shikadai woke up feeling cold. Sleeping at random places around the house was something usual to him. And yet, every time he woke up, he'd be covered with a blanket. Shikadai never remembered waking up in this house to be this cold.

It was half past one.

And nobody was still here.

'How come the house feels so different without mom around?' He asked himself.

Shikadai heard front door opening.

"Sorry, I couldn't leave earlier today..." his dad said breathing heavily. Seems like he ran home from work.

"Welcome home."

"Did you eat?"

"Yeah, at Inojin's."

"That's good. You should go sleep now. I promise to be home early tomorrow."

"Yeah."

* * *

No matter how early his father promised to be home, that's still going to be late. The best choice would be to hang out with his classmates for a time being and then head home in the evening.

That was the best strategy, and yet…

"Sorry, not today." Boruto said shivering a little. "My mom was... super angry yesterday, she said one more day like this and I'm grounded…."

'Hmm... So Boruto is a no too.' Shikadai thought.

Inojin's training with his father today. Asking ChouChou would be just too weird, even though their parents are best friends.

"Don't worry about it then."

"Is your mom still not back?"

"Not yet."

"Must be nice without parents at home. I mean, you can do anything! Play all day, stay out whole night and eat just hamburgers all the time!"

Somehow Boruto's words seemed way too familiar, to the point of deja vu.

"I'll be going then." Shikadai waved him goodbye.

Boruto couldn't possibly understand. Even Shikadai himself finally got it only after these couple of days. Being home alone didn't feel good at all!

In the end he'll have to wait for his dad in that empty house again. Since playing games was way too boring there now, Shikadai started to think that he should cook dinner tonight.

'That doesn't sound too bad.' The boy concluded. 'Maybe this way our house won't be this cold anymore.'

With this thought he rushed home.

* * *

It wasn't Shikadai's first time cooking. He spent a lot of time helping out his mom in the kitchen after all. In the end, mixing right ingredients wasn't that hard, so he could cook quite a few dishes by himself. In theory, of course. It was his first time in the kitchen on his own without mom's supervision.

It wasn't as easy as he thought. Although the pieces he cut weren't as beautiful and whole room ended up dirty, he didn't mess up.

Cleaning turned out to be harder.

And his mom's cooking tasted so much better.

When Shikadai finally finished, it was half past eight. And his dad hasn't come back home yet.

Waiting was the worst. Does it always feel this lonely waiting for someone? Shikadai hated every last minute of it. But then again it actually felt, as if the time itself was mocking him by slowing its flow drastically. It wasn't rare for his dad to be late even after he promised to come earlier. In fact, he was late every time he promised that. And every time mom would still wait for him to return just like this. 'Does she feel this lonely too?' Shikadai wondered still staring at the clock. 'Does she feel this way every day?' This couldn't be right, since most of the time Shikadai was here too. But then again, what about those days when Shikadai himself stayed out till late? Right now the lectures he had to listen after coming home late kind of made sense to him.

Shikadai even felt like scolding his dad himself.

He touched the bowl prepared for his father.

It was cold.

But no matter how long she's waiting for the both of them, the food is always warm.

When clock showed nine in the evening Shikadai felt sudden stinging in his eyes.

Waiting home alone wasn't fun at all.

Not at all what he had imagined.

"Sorry, Shikadai." The boy never heard his dad coming back. "I know I promised, but there was this this we had to figure out right away..."

"Yeah."

Dad sat down the table across from his son.

"So you get it now, huh?"

"Yeah.

* * *

Clock showed half past ten.

They were late again.

It wasn't even funny anymore. Maybe, he should just sleep then? What's the point going to school now? After these couple of days Shikadai realized he won't be able to wake up on time, no matter how many alarms he'll set.

Hearing somebody opening front door made him jump up on his bed. Can it be...

Expression on his dad's face, when they've met in the hallway, was the mirror image of Shikadai's.

She saw them first.

"I'm home." She said with her usual serious face.

"Mom!"

Shikadai was probably even more surprised than his mom, when he suddenly rushed to hug her.

"What's wrong, Shikadai?"

"Mom, no matter how mad you are at us, please, promise you would never leave us!"

"Why so sudden..."

"If you leave, we'll die!" He exclaimed. "I'll be expelled from the Academy, and dad will lose his job, because we will never be there on time! We won't be able to make any money this way and die!" The serious expression on his face was just like his mom's.

"Pfft." He heard. His mother started laughing.

Shikadai looked back at his dad.

"Of course I won't leave you, silly." His mom said still laughing.

She was smiling happily, when she hugged her son back.

"Wait..." her voice suddenly became cold. "Why exactly both of you are still here?"

"You've heard the kid. That's exactly why." His dad was the one laughing now.

When ten minutes later both Nara men were thrown out of the house, they were still smiling happily.

* * *

"Hey, let's play?.." Boruto approached as soon as the last bell rang.

"Sorry, not today!" Shikadai stormed out from the classroom. "Gotta go home!"

For once he actually found himself running. When he opened the front door, the same house that he once used to call 'cold' was warm again. The lights were on, the mess was gone, and he could hear his mom cleaning the living room.

Shikadai took a deep breath, put on his usual indifferent face and called out:

"I'm home."

And for the first time in these few days, he actually heard the reply:

"Welcome back." Nothing really changed, not in his mom's voice. "You're early today."

"I'll be in my room."

When the door closed behind his back, Shikadai had a broad smile on his face.

* * *

"So, do you still think your mom is scary?" His dad asked with a grin. Even he was home early today. If Shikadai were to guess, Lord Hokage just threw the responsibility of scolding father on his mom. But even while listening to troublesome lecture he still seemed happy.

"Kind of."

"Hmmm, alright, I teach you one little secret about her." He moved closer so his son could hear him whispering. "You see, she's just like your uncle Gaara. They both have zero resistance for affection."

"What does that mean?"

"Try this: go to the kitchen, hug her and say you've missed her."

"Huh?"

"Just do it. You'll see what I mean."

'This is kind of troublesome...' he thought, but still stood up. It wasn't that he hated this idea, it was just kind of embarrassing. But if dad is completely serious, then it must be worth is. After all, Shikadai started to feel curious himself.

"Mom?"

"Mm, what is it?" She turned around. The same strict look on her face.

'This is going to be hard.' Shikadai thought to himself trying not to back off. If dad did that, then he should be able to do it too.

Shikadai stepped forward and hugged his mom.

"Nothing... I've just... kind of... missed you..."

She was surprised for few seconds, but then startled expression on her face was replaced by a gentle smile. Shikadai's heart skipped a beat when he realized, that he hasn't seen that smile of hers for a long time. 'Why is that?' he thought, trying to remember. He used to see it a lot when he was a kid. 'What had changed since then?' he never asked himself that question before. But the answer appeared to be very simple. He grew up. Started to come home late and hang out with his friends all the time. Is it what they call 'rebellious stage?'

"What's with that?" his mom laughed. "Go back, dinner will be ready soon."

She was still smiling when he left the kitchen. But seeing her like that again made this place whole lot warmer.

"So?" Dad was waiting for him.

"I'm... not sure anymore."

He laughed.

"Hey, dad. How do you know this?" Shikadai asked.

"I told you, she was the hardest puzzle I got to solve." He sounded kind of proud of himself. "One warning, though. That won't work when she's angry."

"Was it that bad?" Shikadai tried to imagine this scene.

"Haha..." dad forced himself to smile. "But…" he said after a pause. "It might actually work for you, after all."

"Huh? Why?"

"Well, that's because…" dad smiled again, looking at his shocked son. "You make her happier than I ever could. After all, when you were born, she was smiling all the time."

"That's not true." They never heard her coming. "It was you who gave me a baby."

His parents were looking each other in the eyes, not a single word was said. While his mom still has her usual serious face on, his dad looked completely astonished. That was the moment when Shikadai figured it out. It didn't matter, what kind of faces they usually show, or what kind of words they say. Because it never mattered to them, what was on the outside. Appearances are deceiving, and so were the words. The happy family act was never played here, but if Shikadai would interpret his mom's words, they would probably mean "It was you, who made me happy."

His father smiled.

'A puzzle, huh?' Shikadai thought to himself looking at his parents. Maybe, that actually wasn't the worst way to think about it. If he were to equate in his mind any person as a riddle and try to solve it, that would make it a lot easier to pick even the hidden signs. Shikadai's initial theory was crumbling into pieces. For some days now he had this tiniest hunch, that there was a lot more to his family's relationship than he ever imagined. And that was worth investigating. 'So, if dad's puzzle was mom, then for me it would be the both of them!' he decided.

The rest of the dinner went on in silence.

As soon as it was over, Shikadai left to his room.

The first step would be to spy on them.

He's never moved this quietly during the practice in school.

Shikadai felt himself as an actual ninja, sneaking around the house, until he heard his parents' voices.

"Let me go, Shikamaru."

"Nah."

"You're in the way."

"So?"

"I'll get angry."

"No, you won't."

"Shikamaru!"

It was Shikadai's first time seeing his parents actually act like Inojin's. 'So that's how it is…' he thought, realizing that all this time he himself chose not to see any of this.

"How I'm supposed to let you go when you suddenly say something like that." His dad stubbornly said, hugging mom from behind.

"You have problems with that?" she really tried to sound angry.

"Not a single one."

She sighted and gave a faint smile.

"I still can't believe you couldn't manage on your own these couple of days." Teasing notes in Shikadai's mom voice were something new to the boy as well. "Are you really cut out to be Hokage's advisor?"

"You've heard the kid." Dad was smiling. "We need you here."

She laughed.

"Come on, let me go already." She tried to break free. "I have to clean this up..."

"It'll wait." Dad never let go of her. "Hey, it's been a long time since you've been to Hidden Sand."

She turned around to look at hm.

"Kind of."

"I've missed you, Temari." Same words he made Shikadai say, but this time accompanied with a kiss to a forehead.

She probably knew what this all was about. There was no way, that Shikadai's mind-reading mom won't figure this out. And yet, her reaction was still the same. She couldn't hold back a broad smile.

"What's with you two today?"

"Hmm, I wonder." His dad was smiling too.

Shikadai quietly returned to his room. Pieces of his own puzzle started coming together. And somehow those were the exact same ones missing from the picture of his world. Slowly it started to make sense to him that quite a few pieces were placed wrong from the very beginning, that's why the picture never made any sense to him. If he was to replace duty with love, appearance with happiness, and coldness with warmth, the picture of his family would be complete.

Although, the perfect family did sound nice to Shikadai, but in the end his 'perfect' wasn't Inojin's home after all. No matter how ideal his family seemed, no matter how much love his parents show to each other, that wasn't all to it. As Shikadai saw his parents just now, he realized just how wrong he was about them. In the end, surface didn't matter at all, when they would look this happy when nobody's around.

Even though it wasn't obvious from the beginning, but his family was perfect after all.

And he actually preferred it this way.

Now it's definitely

The End

* * *

 **Author's note:** Now it's definitely the end. I kind of enjoy writing my stories in the same format as the manga itself, haha. But this has to be the end… Although I'm saying this now, my mind is still occupied with some story pieces that I might end up putting together, haha.

'Moments' was a good run. I probably enjoyed writing it too much. This particular extra chapter I originally planned as an epilogue, but then again couldn't pick a single idea to write about, so i gave it up. But in the end, I managed to finish it in time. Heartbreaking and heart-warming at the same time. Don't we all went through that stage as teens? The other family better that yours is just classic one. Thinking about that time makes me feel like an old lady xDD.

Anyways, I found it surprising that after all this years of writing romantic stories (mostly in my native language on different resources) I still go all shy while writing lovers' dialogues and interactions. What the hell is wrong with me.

And so, with my final words here I want to express my gratitude who was with me till the end. I'll miss posting everyday, I really would. Since it's my first time writing in English, I'm actually thankful to everyone, who went through even one line of this story. All of you woke up one ambition of mine, that I almost gave up upon. So yeah, thank you everyone! I'm glad I got the chance to meet you all. I'll definitely feel a bit lonely afterwards, haha.

That would be all! Bye-bye!


End file.
